The resulting power vacuum from the war lasted from 1480 to 1600 (Turnbull, 2017: 2). Footnote 1 Finally, in the late fifteenth century, Japan entered the Sengoku period, also known as the Age of the Country at War.

Japan was eventually plunged into a state of political disarray after the shogunate-the centralized feudal military government-lost almost all its influence after a civil conflict called the Ōnin War, which lasted from 1467 to 1477. The establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate led to several uprisings as tensions among lords, samurai, and peasants kept mounting. The medieval to early modern period in Japan was characterized by “centuries of intrigue, murder, predation, and war,” (Adolphson & Ramseyer, 2009: 660) and the fifteenth century marked the beginning of a particularly tumultuous period in the country’s history. As a result, the ninjas were able to reap large economic gains on the mercenary market while remaining stateless-a seemingly paradoxical development that goes against the standard dichotomy of “states and thick markets” versus “anarchy and thin markets.” The ninjas were able to build on this framework with very low organizational costs. I argue that this development was possible because the institutional environment of the Sengoku period enabled a framework of self-governing institutions and principles. However, instead of creating a formal government to move to a higher trade equilibrium, the ninjas resorted to forming voluntary confederations held together by private constitutions. The mercenary market significantly expanded and presented great profit opportunities for the ninjas. With the advent of civil war in the sixteenth century, ninjas’ economic conditions changed. Initially, ninjas in the mountainous regions of Iga and Kōka were stateless, constantly feuded, and had few opportunities for exchange. This paper investigates the possibility of anarchy achieving a high trade equilibrium via the example of ninja communities in Japan.

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