Remember when teachers say, ‘extra marks for being creative?’ Well, looks like this obedient student took it rather seriously and came up with the most creative idea that compelled the teacher to give her top grades. A Japanese student aced an assignment on Ninja history by submitting a piece of ‘blank’ paper. Confused?
Well, Eimi Haga,19, studies ninja history at Japan’s Mie University. She actually submitted what appears to be a blank piece of paper for a writing assignment. She reportedly wrote her essay using ‘aburidashi’ – the ninja technique that uses ink made from soybean which does not immediately show up on paper. Yes, she actually used invisible ink to write her assignment.
She wrote an essay on a visit to a museum about the nimble assassins and attached a note along with it in normal ink that read ‘heat the paper’ before reading. According to BBC, Ninjas were covert agents and assassins in medieval Japan, known for their unorthodox war techniques. She made the ink by soaking soybeans overnight and then squeezing them into a paste.
Haga became interested in ninjas after watching an animated TV show about them and hence learned the technique.
According to NDTV, she had tested three different kinds of paper to test the ink. “If the paper is too thin, it burns when heated. If it’s too thick, it doesn’t absorb the ink very well. I usually use pens and PC to write things. It’s been a while since I took a brush to write with invisible ink,” she said.
Professor Yuji Yamada, a leading researcher of ninja history, was highly impressed by Haga’s creativity. “I knew that I needed to take it home and put it above a stove. She replicated what is written in records of ninja art. She strived to prove what was written actually works and went through a trial-and-error process. I was impressed,” he said. And as promised he decided to award her an A.
That is highly impressive. Don’t you think?