The Real Ninja Was the Man You Would NEVER Notice

In 1681, a military scholar named Natori Masazumi wrote down six essential tools for a ninja. A black suit is not one of them. So where did the famous black costume come from, and what did real ninja wear? This video follows the clothing question through the sources: the Shoninki and the Bansenshukai as reported by the National Diet Library of Japan, the page on ninja clothing from the museum in Iga, and the research of Rob Tuck. The manual lists four colors for disguise, brown, persimmon, black and dark blue. The museum says ninja wore navy blue work clothes, like the farmers of Iga and Koka. The black suit shows up in pictures two centuries after the manuals. You will meet Ito Gingetsu, the newspaperman whose 1909 book may hold the earliest picture linking the black outfit to the shinobi, the Sarutobi Sasuke pocket books, and the kuroko of the kabuki stage. Five popular claims then get a verdict: fact, legend, disputed, or not supported. The video also says plainly where the sources run out, because no surviving ninja garment is described in the material used. This video includes AI-generated illustrations and reconstructions created for storytelling. Facts and sources are listed below. If this was worth your time, a like and a subscribe help more people who like their history checked find this channel. #Ninja #JapaneseHistory #History 0:00 Six tools, no black suit 1:26 A museum in Iga 2:38 The question 3:41 Iga, Koka and the shinobi trade 5:03 The oldest traces of ninja clothing 6:40 Who actually wore these clothes 8:10 A sketch, not a record 9:24 The black hood in Edo pictures 11:16 Who put the black suit into the picture 13:58 Every date side by side 15:52 What the black suit cost us 17:11 Fact, or legend? Five claims 19:05 How many people believe it today 20:04 Where the sources run out 21:13 Back to the museum page SOURCES NINJA: In Fiction and in Reality, 3rd Scroll: Difference between the entertainment ninja and the real ninja Shinobi shozoku (ninja's traditional outfit) we never go out of style (Critical Ninja Theory) Where did the Classic 'Ninja Hood' Come From? Shinobi shozoku Kuroko A&S Research Paper #32: The Historical Ninja: Casting Light on the Shadows Ninja Clothing (Kogakure) NINJA: In Fiction and in Reality, 4th Scroll (Shoninki, Bansenshukai, Ninpiden) Mastering the Art of Deception: The Seven Ninja Disguises The Root of the Problem: Ito Gingetsu The Bansenshukai Back to Life (2014 lecture) Sarutobi Sasuke Ninja in popular culture What Does Pop Culture Get Wrong About Feudal Japanese Ninjas? NINJA: In Fiction and in Reality, 3rd Scroll Shinobi shozoku (museum page, second reading) we never go out of style Where did the Classic Ninja Hood Come From? NINJA: In Fiction and in Reality, 4th Scroll Mastering the Art of Deception A&S Research Paper #32 Wikipedia pages were used as an index to the sources they cite, never as the source itself