Kunoichi

Kunoichi (くノ一) is the term for a female ninja or practitioner of Ninpo.

Derivation of the word Kunoichi
The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji character for woman (女, onna); said in the order they are written: ku (く) - no (ノ) - ichi (一). Early literary quotes include Enshū Senkuzuke Narabi Nihyaku In (遠舟千句附并百韵, Enshū Senkuzuke Narabi Nihyaku In?) (1680) as well as Maekuzukeshū (前句付集, Maekuzukeshū?) (1716), which specifically associates the word with the kanji 女 supporting the etymology. This may be a modern fake etymology by Futaro Yamada[citation needed]. The "くノ一" writing requires the use of one character from each Japanese "alphabet" — first hiragana, then katakana, then kanji. While hiragana and kanji can exist in the same word, katakana generally cannot appear in conjunction with the others. There are exceptions to this, e.g. "ゴミ箱", "消しゴム". Another proposed etymology would derive the term from 九能一 (能 "nō" : talent) with Japanese numbers "ku" (九) for "nine", and "ichi" (一) for "one", meaning "nine talents in one person", though no creditable source lists these "nine talents".

Kunoichi ways
Unlike in fiction (see next section), real-life kunoichi were trained differently than male ninja. Their training focused more on disguise, poisons, and using their gender to an advantage. While they were trained in close combat, they were only to make use of this knowledge when they were caught. They would usually disguise themselves as geisha, prostitutes, entertainers, fortunetellers, and the like to get very close to the enemy. It is thought that they would generally seduce the soon-to-be victim and when they get close enough, would poison them, but it is just as possible they would be disguised as a household servant, allowing them many opportunities to overhear information or get close to said victim. Kunoichi would hide weapons in their disguise, like poisoned needles in their hair and dirks up their sleeves. They also often would turn a previously harmless item into a weapon. For example, they would learn how to break bones with their wooden shoes, put a hidden blade on their fan, or they would use an umbrella as a momentary shield.

In popular culture
Kunoichi have appeared frequently in popular culture, often as a literally female equivalent counterpart to male ninja.