The Shuriken

Probably the most symbolic of all weapons, when the average person sees a shuriken, it is probably understood that it has something to do with ninjas. There are some misinterpretations about shuriken though. Shuriken belong to a larger group of throwing weapons called "Shaken" this includes other throwing weapons, also, shuriken were more used as a distraction to the intended target, allowing for a secondary means to be employed more likely than not, death was delivered through poison tipping the intended projectile. Finally, this particular type of shuriken is a "hira" shuriken, because of its flat shape; the bo shuriken is a dart like shuriken that was used for the same purposes. The shuriken also was used for hand to hand combat, so a Ninja would always pack one extra, because the last one would be used if, neccesary, for hand to hand combat.

http://students.mnmsa.org/~nfredregill/Ninja%20Weapons%20page.html

↑ Grab this Headline Animator