Japanese armour

• 1. Introduction

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  Japanese armour has a history stretching back to at least the 4th century, when cuirasses and basic helmets were placed inside graves. Those earliest pieces were shaped by Chinese influence. But over the following centuries, Japan developed something entirely its own: a tradition of protective equipment so refined that a single suit of armour could require more than 300 metres of braided silk just to hold its scales together.

  Two questions sit at the heart of this story. How did a form of armour built for mounted, sword-wielding aristocrats transform into gear suited for mass infantry battles and firearms? And what happened to all that armour once the wars finally stopped?

• 2. Iron and Lacquer

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  Before the samurai class emerged, Japanese soldiers wore two distinct types of early cuirass. Foot soldiers wore the tankō, while cavalry wore the keikō, which added extra protection across the upper torso. Both were assembled from iron plates lashed together with leather thongs.

  By the Heian period, which ran from 794 to 1185, the armour worn by Japan's warrior class had taken on a character unlike anything found elsewhere. High-ranking mounted samurai wore the ō-yoroi, a luxuriously built and heavy suit designed for horse archery. Lower-ranking foot soldiers wore the lighter dō-maru, which fastened at the back.

  The ō-yoroi was not merely protective equipment. Armor makers applied lacquer to shield the components from Japan's harsh, humid climate. Noble families ordered silk cords in specific colours and weaving patterns to lace the individual scales, known as kozane, together. Some of those cords were made from well over 100 strands of silk thread, and completing enough cord for one suit could take many months of steady work.

  The artistic peak of the ō-yoroi arrived around the time of the Genpei War, the civil conflict that convulsed Japan from 1180 to 1185. From that high point, practicality began to reassert itself. Toward the end of the Kamakura period, which closed in 1333, even high-ranking samurai had started choosing the lighter dō-maru over the more elaborate ō-yoroi.

• 3. Scale, Cord, and Simplification

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  During the Kamakura period, a simpler style of body armour appeared that protected only the front of the torso and the sides of the abdomen. It was worn by lower-ranked soldiers and represented the continuing push toward lighter, more affordable protection.

  The haramaki evolved from this base, extending coverage around to the back. During the Nanboku-chō period, which ran from 1336 to 1392, ashigaru and conscripted farmers fought on foot in large numbers. Demand rose sharply for armour that was light, mobile, and cheap to produce. Kabuto helmets, men-yoroi facial armour, and kote gauntlets were gradually added to the haramaki, and even high-ranking samurai eventually adopted it.

  The Muromachi period, which overlapped with the Nanboku-chō and ran through 1573, brought a fundamental shift in how armour was made. Traditional scales had been connected with cords so densely packed that the cords covered the entire surface. A newer method used just two cords to connect the scales more sparsely. The technique of overlapping scales was also simplified: where the old style had half of each scale overlapping its neighbour, the new approach overlapped only one-fourth. These changes made mass production possible at lower cost and faster speed than before.

• 4. Guns from Tanegashima

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  In 1543, European traders arrived on the island of Tanegashima, bringing matchlock firearms with them. The guns became known by the name of that island. Japanese smiths studied them quickly and began to improve and mass-produce their own versions.

  The tanegashima changed warfare in Japan completely. Large-scale battles now required armour by the thousands. The old scale-based suits were too slow to produce and too light in the places that mattered most against a lead ball. A new style, called tosei-gusoku, or "modern armour," was developed from the foundation of the dō-maru. It used iron plates rather than individual scales.

  The Portuguese trade also introduced Japan to full plate armour. The first set of nanban dō-gusoku, a Japanese adaptation of Portuguese armour, was given to Sakakibara Yasumasa by Tokugawa Ieyasu just before the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. That suit was passed down within the Sakakibara family. Larger iron or leather plates, called itazane, replaced the small individual scales, offering better defence. Some armours were even built with a single iron plate forming the front and back of the cuirass, shaped with a raised centre and a V-shaped bottom.

  Armour makers also responded directly to the new threat by developing tameshi gusoku, meaning bullet-tested armour. These suits were proof-tested against firearms, giving samurai a way to continue wearing armour on a battlefield where guns had become common. Because plate armour offered no flexibility, the method of putting it on and taking it off was redesigned around hinges that allowed the suit to open and close.

• 5. Peace, Pageantry, and Hidden Protection

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  The Sengoku period, the era of warring states that ran from 1467 to 1615, ended when Japan was unified under a single authority and entered the Edo period, which lasted from 1603 to 1868. On the battlefield, armour was no longer necessary. But samurai continued to wear both plate and lamellar armour as visible markers of their rank and identity.

  Tokugawa Ieyasu himself owned dozens of suits of armour. Those suits are now held across several institutions, including Kunōzan Tōshō-gū, Nikkō Tōshō-gū, Kishū Tōshō-gū, the Tokugawa Art Museum, the Tokugawa Museum, and the Tokyo National Museum.

  Edo period armour took two distinct directions. One was revivalist: elaborate suits that echoed the gorgeous ō-yoroi and dō-maru designs of the medieval period, made for ceremony and display rather than battle. The other direction was covert. Civil strife, duels, assassinations, and peasant revolts still posed real dangers, so samurai responsible for internal security wore chain armour called kusari, armoured sleeves, shin and arm protection, and armoured hachimaki to protect the forehead. These could all be worn under ordinary clothing.

  Armour continued to be used in Japan until the Meiji era in the 1860s. The final documented use of samurai armour in combat came in 1877, during the Satsuma Rebellion.

• 6. Shrines, Treasures, and Living Tradition

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  Ōyamazumi Shrine holds a remarkable share of Japan's most significant surviving armour. Forty percent of all armour that the Japanese government has designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties is housed there. Kasuga Grand Shrine also holds a large collection of valuable pieces.

  Japan's legal framework for protecting these objects operates on several tiers. The highest designation is National Treasure, known in Japanese as Kokuhō. Below that sits Important Cultural Property, or Jūyō Bunkazai. Armour rated under the older 1930 law, which has since been abolished, holds the separate rank of Important Art Object, or Jūyō Bijutsuhin.

  Beyond the government system, the Association for the Research and Preservation of Japanese Helmets and Armor maintains its own five-grade scale for high-value armour. Its top rank is Juyo Bunka Shiryo, meaning Important Cultural Article, followed by four descending grades down to Hozon Shiryo, meaning Article Worth Preserving.

  The tradition reaches into the present in a domestic, non-martial form as well. Every year on Children's Day, the 5th of May, households across Japan display miniature samurai armour alongside kabuto helmets. This practice is an adaptation of the old Imperial Court ritual called tango no sekku. In feudal times, real armour, kabuto, and tachi swords were displayed. The miniature versions carry that older custom forward into contemporary households.