Edge bladed swords!

a shinobi doesn't have a katana... a katana is a basic sword...

ninja swords are straight... katanas are not... as for the name... i dunno... i could text someone... but you know... no...

just a reference,but double edges are very common in sword videogames...must be because they're from japan, right?

*ahem*

A shinobi doesn't have a katana. It isn't called a katana, for starters.
If you're talking about the shorter-styled katana, that's not a shinobi's...

Shinobi's aren't limited to any sort of weapon, according to history... they had straight swords that were specifically made for them, however that would be the only sword that they'd really own. Any other sword was probably made by other assassins that weren't ninjas, or by bandits. A ninja's actual favorite use of weapons was the torch...... you would think that'd give away their identity, but remember one thing: Ninjas aren't those stereotypical idiots you see in movies.

Ninjas are better known for using disguises, not just a full-black costume. The full-black costume became their trademark because of their sudden assassination attempts at the dead of night.

They used sickles as weapons as well, because they had to farm for themselves... they're nothing more than highly trained peasants who were most-likely outcasted due to crimes or disease. They weren't just the everyday civilian, or the samurai, or even the ronin... they weren't kept completely around as living, breathing guards... they were secluded and put away until their uses came to.

... ninjas aren't the wonderful awesome warriors that we all know... they're just them. A ninja wouldn't know what it was like to have a completely free life... if they truly did know, and nothing could stop them, they'd trade their lives immediately.

..... (samurai are formidable foes... don't think that they wouldn't stand a chance against a ninja... a ninja is backstabber, and a samurai is a challenger... what happens if a ninja is caught? What happens when a ninja's legs get destroyed? ...what use is he then? ................ sorry, I studied ninjas for 2-3 years)



EDIT:

Also... so what if double-edged swords are from Japan? What's so great about them? DO YOU REALIZE THE IDIOCY MOST PEOPLE HAVE FOR THINKING THEY CAN WIELD THEM?!! ...most people who want that sword can't handle them. It's dangerous! One wrong move can kill them easier than a normal sword.

... look, America has double-swords, too... good luck in finding a great blacksmith, though... they're rare nowadays. ...

...and for all you sword collectors: Shut up. ......... don't buy a sword if you're not gonna' use them. What's the use? Because it's pretty? ...how low have we gotten to treat something so wonderful as just a display piece?!

man Soshi you give all the info on a topic not that its a bad its actually really good shows your intelligence

^_^;; eheheh... I just got obsessed with ninjas a loooong time ago and decided to spend all my time trying to find every single data given about them (books, sites, legends, through-word, etc) ... but there sure was a lot of phoney data about them.

Anyways, I also forgot to mention that ninjas are Japanese... Assassins are Muslim... and spies are Chinese...

Espionage work was first handled by the Chinese...
Assassinations and the typical all-black outfit was created by Muslims...
And Ninjas were said to be the product of these two ideas fused together.

^_^ But yeah...

... the only swords they would have used were quick-kills... things they could carry around easily... if they had anything outrageous, it would've meant that the "mission" didn't much sneaking around (some stories told of ninjas carrying long double-sided swords... ) ... there was also some speculation that some ninjas were rather large in size, but they were considered more as a "charging unit"... something created to attack headfirst, rather than appearing and disappearing. Favorite weapons were chains for them... anything from blades to metal balls at the end of them.


... double-edged swords were more of a samurai-gig... ninjas don't slash, they pierce, there would be no use in giving their swords two blades.

answer to my pop quiz
a samurai's katana is stronger sharper and has a circular or oval hilt (handguard)

a shinobi's katana is shorter and lighter and has a squared hilt for use as a crowbar of sorts or by jamming it against a wall it could be used as a step ladder oh and shinobi tend to wear their swords on their back rather than their hip:D

also one of the earlier answers was correct as they are forged differently and as to the many people saying they don't use katana not true though many shinobi prefer twin daggers with a foot long blade shaped as katana without the hilt

The Shinobi weapons were made for stealth rather then combat. The swords were sharpened at the tip and the the side the user use the most ( left handed or right handed) the swords were only good for stabing and cutting at close range. In many cases the sword would break on contact when hit several times against a samuri sword.

true shinobi swords were made much weaker than samurai because the samurai tended to revere their weapons as a part of their soul in a senseso they had them made extra strong and a shinobi s was just a tool