As a writer, director, executive producer and showrunner, Dave Boyle delivers “A modern day ninja family story” in Netflix’s 8-episode “House of Ninjas,” launching Thursday.

Filmed entirely in Japan and in Japanese with English subtitles, “Ninjas” is ultimately a story of two opposing ninja families. It was Japanese actor and producer Kento Kaku’s idea. Boyle, the only non-Japanese crew member, was responsible for developing its epic story.

“The key thing that Kento brought was the idea of a family of ninjas that are living in modern times. In other words,” Boyle said in a Zoom interview from Japan, “imagine a ninja clan that had been active from the 1600s.”

Five hundred years later, “What would their descendants be like if they have to pass those traditions down to today?”

For research, Boyle did, “A deep dive into the real-life ninja clans that we maybe haven’t heard as much about, at least in movies and TV that have made it over to America.”

This “House” spotlights the Tawara clan of modern ninjas. “Each one of the family have their own feelings about what it is to be a ninja. Some of them really miss the old days. Some still obey all those rules. Others yearn to break away, be free and do their own thing.

“It’s not just a job but an identity that each of them are struggling with, how to live in the modern age.”

While we may be familiar with Samurai warriors, what exactly are ninjas, who include women as equals in their ranks?

“A ninja is a combination of a spy and assassin, a trickster, a deceiver,” Boyle explained. “They engage in information warfare as well as literal warfare. And they are stealth warriors.

“Basically, they’re the soldiers on the battlefield that fight, only the ninja is the one that you never knew was there. They’re the ones who move history without ever being noticed.

“In ancient Japan, they would often be peddlers, farmers, merchants that would move about in the light. Then at night, they would be engaged in spy crafts, assassination. They’re experts in poison (and medicines as well). And almost always, they worked in conjunction with a ruling clan. They always had a Master who basically hired them to do their dirty work for them.”

Boyle laughed. “I should note that all of this stuff that I’m saying is hotly debated. This is the hard part about this because saying something too definitive about ninjas, everybody starts fighting with each other. ‘Well, actually, no, it was this way.’

“Depending on who you talk to, whether they were heroes or villains will vary widely.”

Netflix streams “House of Ninjas” on Feb. 15

Dave Boyle’s “House of Ninjas” streams on Netflix. (Netflix)