This Japanese student gave a blank sheet for an assignment & scored full marks, all thanks to a ninja-inspired technique

The story of a Japanese student who cleverly submitted a blank sheet of paper for a ninja history assignment may be from 2019, but its recent resurfacing has reignited interest in this unique tale. This creative twist has once again captured the imagination of the internet, bringing the legend back into the spotlight.

TIL In 2019 a Japanese University student studying ninja history turned in an essay written in invisible ink. The words only became visible when the paper was heated over a gas stove. Her professor without even revealing the whole essay gave her an A.
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Eimi Haga's fascination with ninjas began in childhood after watching an animated TV show, a BBC report notes.

A ninja was a covert agent in feudal Japan, skilled in espionage, sabotage, guerrilla warfare, and assassination. They were often employed by feudal lords for intelligence gathering, spying, and unconventional warfare.

Years later, as a first-year student at Mie University in Japan, she enrolled in a ninja history course.

After a visit to the Ninja Museum of Igaryu, the professor encouraged students to submit creative assignments, sparking an idea for Haga.

She decided to use aburashi, a traditional Japanese technique of invisible ink writing. In this method, characters are written using a special ink that only becomes visible when heated.

Credit: Unsplash

The term "abura" means oil, and "shi" means paper, referring to the materials used in the process.

Ninjas and spies in feudal Japan often used this technique for secret communications.

For her assignment, Haga, then 19, soaked soybeans overnight, crushed them, and extracted their juice by squeezing them through cloth.

She carefully mixed the extract with water, adjusting the concentration over two hours before writing her essay with a fine brush on washi (thin Japanese paper).

Once dried, the ink was invisible, so she added a note in regular ink instructing her professor to "heat the paper" to reveal her work.

Credit: BBC

How did people respond?

In the comments of the post that reshared Haga's story, people shared their own creative assignment stories, and some were downright hilarious.

One person shared how for an English Lit project, they crafted a journal from a character's perspective in Beowulf, going all out by singeing the edges, "dyeing" the paper with coffee, and writing in old English¡ªonly to get a very underwhelming response from their teacher. "100% effort, zero excitement," they quipped.

Another commenter took it even further with a World War II journal project in 11th grade. They stained the pages with tea, then had their brother's redneck friend shoot the notebook with a rifle, complete with a fake blood pack on the front. The best part? They got an A without the teacher even reading a word.

One user summed it up perfectly: "Teachers and professors are so shocked by the slightest bit of effort, you can spend way less time and still blow them away!"

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