Accidentally drop in
In a shack on the side of a mountain -
And there they dress up dolls …
Kyoshi
One of the features of the Japanese name for armor was an indication of certain characteristic details. On old o-yoroi armor, the name contained, for example, the color of the cords and even the type of weaving. For example, one could come across such names: “armor of red embroidery”, “armor of blue embroidery”. But the same thing persisted in the Sengoku era. If the fastenings of the stripes on the okegawa-do armor were visible, then this was necessarily indicated in the name of the cuirass (and armor). For example, if the heads of the rivets protruded above the surface of the stripes, then it was a byo-moji-yokohagi-okegawa-do or byo-kakari-do style cuirass. And the whole difference was that the heads of the rivets were sometimes made in the form of a mona - the coat of arms of the owner of the armor, and this, of course, in the opinion of the Japanese, should certainly be emphasized. A breastplate made of plates fastened with staples was called kasugai-do. It was possible to fasten them with knots, and even of silk or leather (probably it was cheaper than if the knots were made of iron!) And then the cuirass received the name - hisi-moji-yokohagi-okegawa-do. All of these types (or styles) of armor were either two-piece or five-piece. However, there were also armor with vertically spaced stripes - usually wider in the center of the cuirass and narrower at the edges. They were called tatehagi-okegawa-do and usually belonged to the type of five-piece armor (go-my-do).
Warabe tosei gusoku - children's armor, c. 1700 BC
In the Yukinoshita area, they came up with a cuirass of their own, a special design: in the front there are five horizontal stripes, in the back there are five vertical ones, and also of a five-section type with hinges on the outer sides of the plates. By the name of the area, it was called that - yukinoshita-do. The shoulder straps on it have become metal, which further enhances its protective properties. The kusazuri skirt - now called gessan, received many sections, up to 11, which also distinguished this armor from others.
If the okegawa-do breastplate was covered with leather, then the armor itself should have been called kawa-zumi-do ("shell covered with skin"). If it was made of stripes, the joints of which were not visible from the outside, or the front plate was one-piece forged, then the armor was called hotoke-do. To make such a cuirass more flexible and easy to carry, additional plates could be attached to it, which had a movable mount, that is, attached to the main, smooth plate on cords. If such a plate was attached from below, then the armor was called koshi-tori-hotoke-do. If on top, then - mune-tori-hotoke-do.
Jinbaori - "Warlord's jacket". The era of Momoyama. Front view.
Jinbaori. Back view.
Communication with foreigners, who also had all-metal cuirasses, showed the Japanese that a cuirass with a vertical rib in front better deflects blows. And they began to make "ribbed" cuirasses at home, and they began to be called hatomune-do or omodaka-do. The surface of the European-style cuirasses was smooth and it is understandable why - so that the weapon would slide off better. But when the Sengoku era ended and peace came to Japan, cuirasses with embossed, convex and clearly visible images on metal appeared - uchidashi-do. But they became widespread already in the Edo period, that is, in the period from 1603 to 1868!
Akodanari helmet ("melon helmet") with the coat of arms of the Tsugaru clan. The era of Muromachi.
A variety, and a purely Japanese one, of hotoke-do became armor made of solid-forged nio-do plates, in which the cuirass looked like a human torso. Either it was the torso of an emaciated ascetic, with sagging chest muscles, or … a man with a very rounded body. And it depended on which god's body was copied by this cuirass - fat or thin! Another type of this armor was the katahada-nugi-do ("breastplate with a bare shoulder"). His part of the cuirass depicted a thin body with protruding ribs, and the part (stuck, naturally, to this metal plate) imitated cloth clothes and was usually made of small plates tied with cords.
A Nambokucho-era suji-kabuto helmet with characteristic kuwagata horns.
Hoshi-bachi kabuto helmet ("helmet with rivets"), signed by Miochin Shikibu Munesuke, 1693
Another similar helmet with the Ashikaga clan crest.
Quite rarely, the cuirass do (as well as the leggings, bracers and helmet) was covered with the skin of a bear and then it was called fiercely, and the helmet, respectively, was fiercely-kabuto. They were worn mainly by the most noble warriors. In particular, Tokugawa Ieyasu had one such set.
Kawari kabuto - "figured helmet" with papier-mâché pommel. The Momoyama era, 1573-1615
The shell-shaped kawari kabuto. Edo era.
Kawari kabuto in the form of a kammuri headdress. The era of Momoyama.
Finally, the most bulletproof armor was created, called sendai-do. It was all the same armor of the "yukinoshita" type in five sections, but made of metal with a thickness of 2 mm or more. They were tested by a shot from an arquebus (tanegashima in Japanese) from a certain distance. Several such armor with characteristic dents have survived to our time. If the bullet did not penetrate the armor, then it could be called not sendai-do (according to the place of appearance), but otherwise - tameshi-gusoku ("tested armor"). Date Masamune was especially fond of such armor, who dressed all his army in them! Moreover, the only thing that distinguished the armor of an ordinary samurai from an officer of a kogashir was the weaving of cords, among officers it was more frequent! By the way, he gave up the o-soda shoulder pads altogether, replacing them with small "wings" - kohire. A noticeable difference between the privates and their commanders was a leather pocket (tsuru-bukuro) on the left at the waist, in which the arrows kept bullets for the arquebus. Interestingly, Masamune himself wore a very simple sendai-do with a rare navy blue lacing. Accordingly, the arquebusiers of the Ii clan, who were commanded by Ii Naiomasa at the end of the Sengoku era, were dressed in bright red okegawa-do armor and the same red helmets.
Suji-bachi-kabuto, signed by Miochin Nobue. The era of Muromachi, 1550
Toppai-kabuto (high conical helmet, flattened from the sides) with a mempo mask. The era of Momoyama.
Dangae-do became a completely unusual armor that was used in the Sengoku era. It is not clear how he appeared, and most importantly - why. The fact is that in it one third of the cuirass (usually the upper one) had a nuinobe-do device, then there were three lower stripes in the mogami-do style and, finally, the last two stripes were made up of "real plates." This design did not possess either increased security or greater flexibility, but … such armor with such cuirass was ordered, although it is not clear why. Is that this "hodgepodge of meat team" was obtained by the master when the armor was ordered in a hurry, and in order to satisfy the customer, the armor was assembled from everything that the master had at hand or remained from other armor.
Somen mask with a tengu demon face, Edo era.
Somen mask signed by Kato Shigesugu, Edo period.
The Japanese also had purely European armor, which consisted of a cuirass and a helmet, but it was a very expensive pleasure, since they had to be transported from Europe. They were called namban-do and differed from the Japanese, mainly in appearance. At that time, Europeans usually had armor of "white metal", but the Japanese painted their surface in a reddish-brown rust color. The thickness of the cuirass was usually 2 mm. So the okegawa-do cuirass together with the gessan “skirt” could weigh from 7 to 9 kilograms or more.
Eboshi Kabuto, early Edo period, 1600
Finally, the cheapest armor of the Sengoku era was the armor of the ashigaru - spearmen, archers and arquebusiers, which were all the same okegawa-do, but only from the thinnest steel or strips of unburned, albeit traditionally patent leather. Such armor was produced in huge quantities and was called okashi-gusoku, that is, "borrowed armor", since ashigaru received them only for the duration of their service, and then they were returned. Another popular type of armor for ordinary ashigaru was the karuta-gane-do and kikko-gane-do, also called "tatami-do" or "folding armor". Their cuirass consisted of a fabric base, on which, in the first case, rectangular plates of metal or leather were sewn, and in the second, the same plates, only hexagonal, interconnected by chain mail. The plates, again, were usually painted black with soot and varnished on both sides.
Arrowheads I-no-ne. A narrow tip - hoso-yanagi-ba (third from the left), wide slotted tips - hira-ne, two “horns forward” tips - karimata. Two tips with "horns back" - watakusi.
A horn made of a shell, with which signals were given in battle - horai, circa 1700
