In 2009, a global cabal of artists, designers, and scientists called the International Colour Association decided to create a day to honour—er, "honor"—color in all its forms. International Colour Day is now celebrated every March 21, since that's the spring equinox, the day when light and darkness are in perfect balance. All month, we're going to have Jeopardy!'s Ken Jennings with us, debunking a full spectrum of chromatic claptrap. Your trivia knowledge will soon be in the pink.
The Debunker: What Color Did Ninjas Wear?
Writing these "Debunker" columns, I often feel like a professional buzzkill. Is there something you think is cool? The red telephone between the President and the Soviets? Porcupines shooting their quills? Pirates making treasure maps? Yeah, none of these things ever happened. So I couldn't be more relieved to tell you today: ninjas were real. In medieval Japan, they were master spies, saboteurs, and assassins. The skulking across rooftops, the disguises, the darts and throwing stars—it's true. All of it.
They weren't called ninja, though. The actual Japanese word for ninja was shinobi, meaning "to conceal," and "ninja" was a Chinese-influenced shorthand for shinobi-no-mono, or "person of stealth." But it turns out that the iconic black uniforms and masks we imagine weren't really the stealthiest ninja-wear. Visit the Ninja Museum in Japan's Iga Ueno Castle or the Ninja Village in Koka, and you'll see that the black ninja outfits on display are vastly outnumbered by the dark blue ones. Other colors were apparently allowed as well. One collection of ninja poems recommends, "On a moonlit night, wearing white is unobtrusive." Another manual recommends low-key colors like brown, navy, or black for blending in with a crowd.
Where did the all-black misconception come from? Historian Stephen Turnbull has written that our modern idea of ninja uniforms probably came from kabuki theater, where stagehands were veiled in black to fade into the scenery. Ninja characters may have dressed the same way to emphasize their invisibility. But in real ninjitsu, blue was more common, probably because it was actually better for nighttime camouflage, and because indigo dye may have been more economical in medieval Japan than black. But hey, I'm just happy that ninjas were real—even if my 5th grade Halloween costume may have been the wrong color.
Quick Quiz: Before their TV cartoon debut, what color masks did all four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wear?
Ken Jennings is the author of six books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.