Editing Ninjutsu (section)

===Outerwear===
[[File:Kuro-Shozoku-Ninja-Costume-at-Iga-Ninja-Museum.png|thumb|left|upright|Kuro shozoku ninja costume and waraji (sandals). The image of the ninja costume being black is strong. However, in reality, ninjas wore navy blue-dyed farmers' working clothes, which were also believed to repel vipers.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}]]
[[File:Gappa travel cape and zunin with kusari armor.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Antique Japanese ''gappa'' (travel cape) and cloth ''zukin'' (hood) with ''kusari'' (chain armour) concealed underneath]]

While the image of a ninja clad in black garb (''shinobi shōzoku'') is prevalent in popular media, there is no hard evidence for such attire. It is theorized that, instead, it was much more common for the ninja to be disguised as civilians. The popular notion of black clothing may be rooted in artistic convention; early drawings of ninja showed them dressed in black to portray a sense of invisibility.; Turnbull uses the name ''Buke Meimokushō'', an alternate reading for the same title. The ''Buke Myōmokushō'' cited here is a much more common reading.</ref> This convention may have been borrowed from the puppet handlers of ''[[bunraku]]'' theater, who dressed in total black in an effort to simulate [[prop]]s moving independently of their controls.<ref name="Howell 1999 211">{{Harvnb|Howell|1999|p=211}}</ref> However, it has been put forward by some authorities that black robes, perhaps slightly tainted with red to hide bloodstains, was indeed the sensible garment of choice for infiltration.

Clothing used was similar to that of the [[samurai]], but loose garments (such as leggings) were tucked into trousers or secured with belts. The ''[[tenugui]]'', a piece of cloth also used in martial arts, had many functions. It could be used to cover the face, form a belt, or assist in climbing.

The historicity of armor specifically made for ninja cannot be ascertained. While pieces of light armor purportedly worn by ninja exist and date to the right time, there is no hard evidence of their use in ninja operations. Depictions of famous persons later deemed ninja often show them in [[Japanese armour|samurai armor]]. There were lightweight concealable types of armour made with [[Kusari (Japanese mail armour)|''kusari'']] (chain armour) and small armor plates such as [[Karuta (armour)|''karuta'']] that could have been worn by ninja including ''katabira'' (jackets) made with armour hidden between layers of cloth. Shin and arm guards, along with metal-reinforced hoods are also speculated to make up the ninja's armor.