When 

Masashi Kishimoto was creating the setting of the Naruto manga, he initially

concentrated on the designs for the village of Konohagakure, the primary setting
of the series. Kishimoto asserts that his design for Konohagakure was created
"pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery is based
on his home in the Okayama prefecture in Japan. Kishimoto created Konohagakure
without specifying an era or location in the real world, noting that the village is
"just a place in [his] head". Without a specific time period, Kishimoto included
modern elements in the series such as convenience stores and movies, but
specifically excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the storyline. For
reference materials, Kishimoto performs his own research into Japanese culture
and alludes to it in his work. In an interview, he commented that he "often
visits Japanese gardens and [goes] to Kabuki performances" for reference
material.

Kishimoto added that, as Naruto takes place in a "Japanese fantasy world," the

creator has to "set certain rules, in a systematic way" so that he could easily
"convey the story." Kishimoto wanted to "draw on" the Chinese zodiac tradition,
which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from
this. Regarding technology, Kishimoto said that Naruto would not have
any firearms. He said he may include automobiles, aircraft, and "low-processing"
computers; Kishimoto specified the computers would "maybe" be eight-bit and that
they would "definitely not" be sixteen-bit.
In the Naruto world, countries operate as separate political entities ruled by
landlords. Within these countries are hidden villages (隠れ里 kakurezato?),
settlements housing ninja, warriors capable of using supernatural abilities in
combat. A hidden village maintains the economy of the parent country by training
ninja from a young age and using them to perform missions for other countries.
The ninja of a hidden village also serve as the military force of their parent
country. The leaders of the hidden villages hold equal status with the leaders of
their respective countries. Five countries in the Naruto world: the Land of Earth,
the Land of Fire, Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Wind are
known as the "Five Great Shinobi Nations". These countries are the most powerful
in the Naruto world. They are ruled by a feudal lord and the leaders of the hidden
villages in these countries hold the title ofKage. Other apparently smaller nations
have been named in passing, in either the manga or anime, but are yet to be
explored.