The term ninjato (kanji: 忍者刀) means "ninja sword" in English. It is written にんじゃとう in hiragana. It may also be rendered in English as ninjatō , ninjatou , ninja-to , ninja-tō or ninja-tou. It's pronounced roughly like "neen-jah-toe".
The sword of the ninjaNINJA 忍者 "stalking/hiding person" learn more.... 刀, in isolation, is read as katanaKATANA 刀 "sword" learn more.... Ninja literally means one who stalks or prowls around. The ninjato is also called the shinobi-gatana (忍刀) since shinobiSHINOBI 忍 "ninja [literally stalking or hiding]" learn more... is another word for ninja.
Being secretive assassins doing the “dirtier” jobs of samuraiSAMURAI 侍 "warrior serving a lord" learn more...-era Japan, ninja needed specialized weapons. Thus ninjato collectively includes weapons such as the smaller, hidden shikomizueSHIKOMIZUE 仕込み杖 "placing inside a cane" learn more....