is the term for a female ninja

Ninja

A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...

 or practitioner of ninjutsu

Ninjutsu

or may be:*the arts associated with espionage and assassination in feudal Japan, see Ninja*modern schools of martial arts claiming to be based in these traditions, see Modern Schools of Ninjutsu*fictional depictions, see Ninja in popular culture...

 (ninpo).

Etymology

The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 character for ; said in the order they are written: ku (く) - no (ノ) - ichi (一). Early literary quotes include (1680) as well as (1716), which specifically associates the word with the kanji 女 supporting the etymology of being overpowered. The "くノ一" writing requires the use of one character from each Japanese system of writing — first hiragana

Hiragana

is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

, then katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

, then kanji. While hiragana and kanji can exist in the same word, katakana generally cannot appear in conjunction

Conjunction

Conjunction can refer to:* Conjunction , an astronomical phenomenon* Astrological aspect, an aspect in horoscopic astrology* Conjunction , a part of speech** Conjunctive mood , same as subjunctive mood...

 with the others. There are exceptions to this, for example in "ゴミ箱" and "消しゴム".

A popular etymology would derive the term from 九能一 (能 "nō" : talent

Skill

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

) with Japanese numbers "ku" (九) for "nine", the particle "no" (の) for "and" and "ichi" (一) for "one", literally translated to "nine and one". The meaning for this name is derived from the number of orifices on a female body. A male has nine (counting the navel), a female has one more (vaginal opening

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

) and possesses the skills to make use of this orifice as well. Another theory asserts that the term is apocryphal and coined in the writings of Ninpōngo novelist Futaro Yamada

Futaro Yamada

was the pen name of , a Japanese author.He was born in Yabu, Hyogo.In 1947, he wrote a mystery novel and was awarded a prize by a novel magazine .He was discovered by Edogawa Rampo and became a novelist....

.