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No, Ninjas Do Not Wear Black
We all have the popular image of a ninja wearing all black costume. It’s pretty cool.
If you’re going to cosplay a ninja…
…it’s kind of a shame it’s not true.
Why Do We Think Ninjas Wore Black?
The answer? Kabuki theater. Kabuki theater had prop handlers who moved around the stage. They wore black so they would disappear into the background while the audience focused on the actors.
The tradition probably did as much to get people to ignore them as anything else.
The theory is that when the theater wanted to startle the audience by having a character suddenly appear to ambush somebody or the like? They dressed them as prop hands.
So, ninjas (which, by the way is a Chinese word, the true word was shinobi, which meant “concealed”) in theater wore black.
(Ironically, I know of at least one group that call prop handlers and spotters “ninjas” in honor of this).
What did Ninjas Really Wear?
Not black, at least not most of the time. In fact, black is not a good night camouflage color.
Black stands out. When they put Batman in all black, I wince.