What is ninja armor made of?

Answer 1

Ninja didn't wear armor; however, some people, such as Stephen Hayes in his book Mystic Arts of the Ninja, have suggested that ninja sometimes wore the armor of a samurai as a disguise. There is no evidence that historical ninja limited themselves to all-black suits either. In modern times, camouflage based upon dark colors such as dark red and dark blue can be used to give better concealment at night. Some cloaks may have been reversible: dark colored on the outside for concealment during the night, and white colored on the inside for concealment in the snow. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants. The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the Kabuki Theater. Prop handlers would dress in black and move props around on the stage. The audience would obviously see the prop handlers, but would pretend they were invisible. Building on that willing suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theater as wearing similar all-black suits. This either implied to the audience that the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from many prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination. Ninja boots (jiki-tabi)like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko. More of these spikes were attached to make the ninja tracks look less human, with these spikes being called ashiaro. The actual head covering suggested by Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi (in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques) utilizes what is referred to as sanjaku-tenugui, (three-foot cloths). It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head in such a way as to make the mask flexible in configuration but securely bound. Some wear a long robe, most of the time dark blue (紺色 kon'iro) for stealth.

Answer 2

Historically, ninja armor was typically made from lightweight materials such as chainmail, leather, and sometimes iron plates. These materials allowed ninjas to move quickly and quietly while still providing some protection in combat. Ninjas often wore all-black outfits to blend in with the night and remain unseen.