The first certified product is an origami, or folding paper, for messages shaped like a shuriken, the star-shaped daggers that ninja throw as weapons. 'We hope this will appeal to people all over the world.'The council, set up in 2015, has created an official logo for certified products and movies to nurture what it called the 'ninja business,' and it hopes to educate 'ninja ambassadors' to promote the culture globally.

'The art of ninja is made up of various elements, such as combat, survival techniques and astronomy,' Jinichi Kawakami, known as 'the last ninja' and a master of the Koga ninja school, told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. The Japan Ninja Council, a government-backed organization of scholars, tourism groups and businesses, said Wednesday that it's starting a Ninja Academy to train people in the art of ninja, and building a new museum in Tokyo devoted to ninja, set to open in 2018. To tell us about your own trip, go to and fill out the What a Trip form with your best memories, finest moments and favorite photos.TOKYO - Japan is turning to those hooded samurai-era acrobatic spies known as ninja to woo tourism. There are also the gods of earth, ocean, happiness, wealth and wisdom. One is for good health and another is for music and beauty. I saw a huge crab about as big as my head.ДЇondest memento or memory: I got a good-luck charm with seven lucky gods hanging on it. There were a lot of shops at the fish market in Tokyo. I didnвЂ™t know that they ate so much fish. Some of the kids have to clean the bathroom! Gross! Also, the kids have to clean the classroom. They can play with the pets between classes. How unexpected: At school in Japan, they can bring in their pets - only their lizards and crabs. Most people thought he was listening to music. He had earphones on, but they werenвЂ™t plugged into anything. I also laughed a lot when he was dancing. He didnвЂ™t know English and I donвЂ™t know Japanese that well, so we used hand signals. Our school doesnвЂ™t have food for prizes, but they do in Japan.Д«iggest laugh or cry: My exchange studentвЂ™s brother made me laugh the most. I knew that a matsuri was a festival because we have one at our school, too. They asked us if we wanted to go to a matsuri. In the dojo, we вЂњwalkedвЂќ on water.Д¬ultural connection or disconnect: We met some university students from the Good Samaritan Club in Kyoto. I got a ninja suit! There was a ninja training course called a dojo. Highlights and high points: My favorite parts of the trip were Kyoto Studio Park (Toei Uzumasa Eigamura) in Kyoto, the Koga Ninja House in Koka and the Ninja Village in Koka.

She was an exchange student who stayed with us in the summers of 20. We also went to Nagoya because we have a вЂњsister,вЂќ Juri, who lives there. I spent two nights at his house and also went to school with him one day. We became good friends in first grade, then he moved back to Japan. The whole family spent time in Tokyo, but I went to Funabashi to visit my friend Haru. We went because my sister and I are in the Japanese immersion program at Fox Mill Elementary School.

Where, when, why: My family and I went to Japan for 15 days in June and July. Who: Gavin Malzahn, 9, and his family, of Fairfax Our readers share tales of their rambles around the world. Gavin Malzahn вЂњwalksвЂќ on water during a ninja training course at Ninja Village in Koka, Japan.

Koga ninja village