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Stylish shinobi seeking silver shuriken similarly supplied.

Last fall Japan’s Ninja Council was formed. While it’s still too early to give up hope that the organization’s real purpose is to protect us from an invading army of evil demons that have been sealed away beneath Mt. Fuji for the past 1,000 years, so far the group has been sticking to its publicly professed purpose of spreading knowledge about Japan’s famous shadow warriors and promoting ninja-related tourism.

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For its first major project, the Council spearheaded the production of a mobile game titled Ninja King-Ninja Rises, but its newest endeavor is something more traditional. Through a campaign on Japanese crowdfunding site Crowdrive, the Japan Ninja Council is offering throwing stars made of pure silver or gold, crafted one of Japan’s oldest medal-making companies, Matsumoto Kisho.

Measuring nine centimeters (3.54 inches) across, the silver shuriken weighs 25 grams (0.88 ounces)…

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…while the identically sized gold version tips the scales at 50 grams.

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You might think that such conspicuous luxury runs counter to the understated subterfuge associated with the ninja, but their precious metal-construction has an upside from a legal standpoint. Possession and purchase of ordinary shuriken is heavily regulated under Japan’s Sword and Firearm Control Laws, but the two throwing stars being offered by the Japan Ninja Council are classified as art objects.

Aside from gold’s pliable nature making it a poor choice for weaponry, another obvious reason for the loophole is the cost of the throwing stars. The silver star is priced at 150,000 yen (US$1,340), and if you want to pretend you’re James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga’s Japanese cousin, the Man with the Golden Shuriken, that’ll cost you 770,000 yen. In other words, no one with the cash to buy these is doing so with the intention of sharpening their edges and throwing them around while robbing the local convenience store.

The shurikens’ Crowdrive campaign can be found here. Since quantities are limited to just 10 stars of each variety, buying a spare probably isn’t an option, so you’ll want to keep yours safely stored and only use it for your most formal ninja social engagements.

Source: Grapee
Feature image: Crowdrive (edited by RocketNews24)
Top image: Crowdrive (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Japan Ninja Council, Crowdrive (edited by RocketNews24)