Armor of the Samurai

    The armor a samurai wore "was...essentially a garment composed of overlapping strips or 'scales' of steel-on-leather laced together with thongs of leather, fiber, or silk..."(King, pg 62). The steel itself was lacquered as a precaution to prevent rust. In later centuries steel was used only in vital areas, since it was so heavy, as bullet proof armor. The entire suit of armor was called yoroi in early centuries and was a boxy design, the simpler design used in more recent centuries was called do-maru. In most cases armor was only worn for full scale battles or special ceremonies.

From top to bottom the parts of samurai armor were: The kabuto or helmet The mempo, happuri, or hoate were different kinds of face masks The shikoro or nodowa were two kinds of neck or throat protection The dō was the main body armor The shoulder plates were called sode Kote was sleeve armor The kusazuri was an armored skirt of tassets Haidate were thigh guards Suneate were shin guards A sashimono was a flag or other device worn on the back of the samurai to identify his clan

Below is a step-by-step chart of how the samurai warrior put on his armor. These pictures are from Winston L. King's book  Zen & The Way of the Sword: Arming the Samurai Psyche, pages 66-67.

	Armor was as varied as the personalities of the samurai who wore them

Web site designed and researched by Travis Moorhouse

Last updated Monday, December 04, 2006

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