Talk:Gotonpō

Japanese script

Done. Gotonpo also is called "goton no jutsu" (五遁の術). Cya! (with a smoke). --Nightshadow28 14:20, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Reality...

While I certainly will admit that there are certain abilities, and certain philosophies about the ninja arts, which can be seen across a wide variety of media, this article seems to state it quite concretely, and with no sources. Which specific fictional/fantasy representations use the term "gotonpō", and describe the five paths in precisely this way, by these names? I do not wish to formally nominate this article for deletion just yet, but I shall post a note on WP:J and test the waters as to people's opinions on the matter. I think that the subject is in itself interesting and notable, but needs a major overhaul in order to more accurately represent which media make use of this five elemental paths concept, how they represent it, etc. Thanks. LordAmeth 14:45, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

What does the Japanese Wikipedia article have to say about it? —Quasirandom 17:13, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

The Japanese article basically just says that within ninjutsu there are arts based on air, earth, insects, beasts, cloud, thunder, and darkness, and that these things frequently appear in (fictional) media forms as dramatic names for various skills which help to hide from enemies, to escape, or to fight. Unlike this English article, the Japanese one avoids going into too much detail about specific paths or arts without claiming which source (Naruto? just a wild guess) this applies to or comes from. LordAmeth 22:41, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

While the depiction in Naruto and other media of ninja elemental abilities is certainly fantastic, the techniques mentioned here are all described realistically, and I would be inclined to accept that the divisions are based on actual (modern or historical) ninjutsu teachings, not just fictional versions of ninja, as LordAmeth seems to be reading the article. Sources, as always, would help a lot though.--DrHacky 05:32, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Geez, I'm sorry. I just glanced at it quickly and assumed that it said stuff about throwing fireballs or travelling through shadows, walking on water, etc. I can't believe that I missed that everything they talk about here is feasible realistic stuff, not fantastic ninja magic nonsense. How embarrassing. Even so, we do need sources; while this stuff may be related in period sources, I really would not be surprised if it's still inaccurate and anachronistic. (e.g. note that Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of the Five Rings, the Hagakure, and a number of similar texts were all written long after the end of the eras of samurai warfare and the imposition of the Pax Tokugawa.) If there are sources that can indicate that early modern texts describe ninjutsu in this way, then it's a real and worthwhile topic, even if real ninja did not follow this conception. However, if this is a relatively modern conception, derived from romanticized or fictionalized notions of the ninja, then... LordAmeth 00:58, 13 October 2007 (UTC)