Idaten clan

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The Idaten clan was a small Japanese ninja clan that was active during the Sengoku period (1467-1573). The clan was based in a small area in the south of the Hokkaidō in what is now Hidaka Subprefecture. They offered their services for hire.

The name Idaten comes from the ancient deity Idaten but the clan actually did not worship him as a deity.^{[citation needed]}

While the use of ninja-for-hire had slowed down after the warring states period, the village still practised these arts over time. The clan believed in a form of animism where they prayed for power from different animals or deities and used this power during their battles, suggesting some similarity to the beliefs of the Ainu in Hokkaidō.

Although officially disbanded as a ninja clan, some of the higher regarded families still practise and teach the arts to their family members, and sometimes outsiders to keep the techniques from dying.^{[citation needed]}

Many of the family members travelled to foreign seas after 1789.^{[citation needed]}

The clan disbanded after internal disputes. The surname Idaten, however, survives to this day.