I may be silly but I've been taking a look at Japanese castle architecture, in particular their wall and moat stonework. Himeji Castle, Nijo Castle, Nagoya.. all have this stone formation similar to the woodblocks and prints. It makes sense that ninja would have used a variety of camouflage methods in their garb (making the popular black outfit quite limited, really). When you look at the woodblock which contains a spy using 'stonework' kind of camouflage, and note that this kind of stonework was common to Japanese castle architectures...I hate to speculate but it all kind of fits somehow.
Well I guess it could be an artistic trope. But we would need more evidence. Clearly within the castle grounds a shinobi would stand out with stonework camoflage. But there again the black suit is likely an artistic trope too.
Well art is drawn from life my friend so if the ninja truly existed let's keep examining the art because I think it's sometimes as useful or more than the written material. It makes more sense to me than most kanbun or essays on the Net. So far in the thread we've identified at least 3 different forms of possible ninja 'garb' circa 18/19th century. 20th century film depicts ninja in black. The 'black shozoku' certainly appears to be a valid form of camouflage. But it's the other possible camouflage that intrigues me. Let me ask a question: what form of camouflage would a Ninja attempting to infiltrate the castle model above wear? Would it be one mode, or several? Netting for scaling rocks, black for darkness, civilian clothes once successful. Maybe the Ninja's 'uniform' was any uniform.
The only film i ever saw where I reckon ninja were depicted as they actually probably were is Kurasawa's "Kagemusha" (ironically enough). They were good enough tha`t they didn't need to fight either I think Kurasawa was a stickler for detail/authenticity so it comes across well and ... not very ninja-like!
Apologies for resurrecting this thread but a friend of mine found this information at the West Highland museum in Fort William. This of course in no way implies that Ninjas wore string vests, but it shows that there is a precedent and a possibility for its use. I'm still more inclined to see the historical prints representation as chain mail, but just to let you know!
(Big Sigh) Not the response I expected for to my post, waiting the inevitable apocaypse as hannibal descends...
Phew.just googled it now. I must just have a overly suspicious imagination...its was all in good humour. The flame storm has been averted.
Hey I've been searching antique Japanese catalogs and found some interesting examples of 'gyorin kozane' (fish scale armor). "fish net", "fish scale", and of course there is a whole history of this kind of armor in Japanese warfare going back to 1000AD, with earliest formats specifically described as a "primitive type of harness". https://books.google.com/books?id=T...v=onepage&q=Japanese fish scale armor&f=false This helmet guard piece would have been specifically worn around the neck. 17th century:
I know, it's totally OT and I apologize! But: Should I feel sorry, that I was actually surprised for a moment, that Hannibal looks like someone, who can actually be nice, if he decides too? :Angel: :whistle:
