Samurai Armor: Evolution and Overview

it's been a while since I've made an extra samurai history video so I thought I would come back and touch on another topic I haven't really highlighted too much of yet that being samurai armor in this video we're going to take a dive into the evolution of Japanese armor while also taking a look at each component while discussing its purpose and at the end because it also coincides with armor I will try to answer the age-old question of why don't we ever see some are using shields so let's get started the earliest examples of armor in Japan obviously come from the mainland as we can see many similarities between a Japanese armor and armor from China and Korea the first real example of metal armor we can see originated in the 4th century it is called Tonko Tonko was made up of iron plating tied together by leather cords this method of armor tied together is known around the world as lamellar and although it had its advantages it was also somewhat bulky a century later and we can begin to see that the Japanese had shifted away from the Tonko and instead had adopted a more suitable armor for mounted combat this armor being called keko keko was adopted mainly from Korea and was also considered to be lamal R although it differed from the Tonko in regards to its composition instead of larger metal plating the Keiko consisted of smaller more narrow pieces of metal woven together this made it more flexible we can see these mainland forms of armor being used from the ku fool to the Nara period before the bush came into the spotlight it is of course when we get to the Heian period where we truly start to see the differentiation between Japanese and other Asian armors this coincides with the rise of the bushi warrior class the Keiko saw its heyday up until around the 8th century yet when the bushi became the staple military model things began to change the bushi were for the most part mounted archers and although the Keiko provided excellent flexibility it did not work so well for using the bow on horseback this is where we begin to see the development of the oi the great armor this is the first time we can look at armor in Japan and immediately recognized it as samurai armor the boy was very box-like and hung from the shoulders it was made up of many different components although the best Oh Roy was made of metal some were fashioned out of leather and were tied in the back by a silk cord the important part was that the actual armor strips metal or leather were lacquered to essentially form plates its design allowed the wear excellent flexibility specifically for archers on horseback through its somewhat exposed armpits yet its large frame also provided great protection from incoming attacks of course its bulkiness meant it wasn't the best suited for melee combat but obviously this was simply because it was not designed for that purpose simplified versions of the boy were eventually developed for foot soldiers we can initially see this in the form of the dual Maru the dual Maru was in a sense and armoured jacket which provided far more flexibility so that foot soldiers could effectively engage in melee ground combat the gyro and damaru were on full display during the climactic a war which saw japan fall under the rule of the samurai and later during the Mongol invasions of Japan and it's after the Mongol invasions where things start to take another major turn where previously warfare in Japan had somewhat fallen into a static rut when a force from the outside world had invaded the samurai quickly saw how their methods had become outdated changes needed to be made not only to better defend against outside threats but also to update warfare on the home islands most noticeably foot soldiers became vastly more relevant giving rise to the ashigaru conscripted peasant food soldiers who often doubled as farmers initially they would be outfitted in the dole maru yet in time we can also see the introduction of two new designs the harem Aki and the karate the Aramaki and erotic stepped away from the thin armor strips present in lamellar Armour to instead use larger strips of metal which overlapped this form of armour is known around the world as laminar armour these new armors held their weight at both the waist and shoulders making them feel lighter than their predecessor couple that with the excellent protection they provided to the chest and abdomen along with the fact that it was far easier to produce and you have a far superior alternative that quickly became the staple armored for all foot soldiers another major change in samurai warfare caused by the Mongol invasions came in the form of mounted combat where of course previously the samurai had been mostly mounted archers the efficiency of mounted samurai as shock cavalry became more apparent thus any need to create armor that better suited the needs of mounted melee combat samurai began switching their chest pieces from that of the Illinois to the damaru which worked to create a hybrid flexible suit in later years instead of the damaru samurai would begin using the Hara Maquis and herati as chess pieces additionally alongside the development of new armor variations we can also see the introduction of chainmail called Casati initially just meant to fill gaps in armor kusari would be stitched into clothing to help protect vulnerable areas in later years particularly in the 1800s we can also see full suits of just kusari this was also the period in which we begin to see the introduction of many other added improvements some of the most noteworthy being improved helms face masks and improved shoulder pieces by the 1400s the new forms of hybrid armor had culminated into what was now known as tose goosal coup or modern armor it would be the primary armor used during the onein war which kick-started japan's warring States period the single coochie died and it's during the Sengoku Jidai where we can truly get a comprehensive look at samurai armor during its prime so let's briefly take a step away so that we can go over the many components of typical single coup samurai armor the core of any suit of armor is of course going to be the chest piece which is called though it is the one piece that has underwent the most changes throughout the history of the samurai the Kabuto is the helmet it too has many different styles and variations offering protection for the skull and neck additionally it's where the famous samurai ornamentation sits signifying status fame or personality some famous examples of ornamentation can be seen in the crescent used by da ta Masamune the antlers used by Honda kara katsu and the sunburst used by Toyotomi Hideyoshi the hwacha is the facemask it usually contains a removable nose piece and generally contains whiskers or a fearsome demon like appearance the store day are shoulder plates fastened by hooks and usually worn by officers the Kota are the sleeves important pieces of protection for the arms and usually covered in chain mail or other protective materials the yoke okay are the gloves usually fashioned from tan leather the ooby are the belt and sash the important pieces for holding swords the high dot a are thigh guards taking an almost apron like appearance containing pieces of woven metal or leather for protection and the Sunnah atte are the shin guards made of vertical plates with leather included on the inner side where the guard comes in contact to a stirrup if on horseback there is also a formulaic method to equipping samurai armor as one must do it correctly to be properly protected first the proper under Obon must be donned then working feet up the armor is applied until one reaches the head and the helm is strapped on one last note regarding the color of armor contrary to what video games and films would have you believe samurai armor was not all one single set of colors for one clan in fact color more dependent on one's family or even persona a fine example of this was II now masa who tended to wear red armor this was in conjunction to his elite group of samurai who went by the name the Red Devils they all wore red while fighting under Tokugawa Ieyasu who's owned family colors were not red but word usually seemed to be brown prior to him becoming Shogun but getting back to history during the first half of this age of war the tosai goosal ku underwent a little change however another major alteration was to occur after the introduction of Western firearms into Japan in 1543 needing to strengthen armor to be resilient to musket fire new armor constructed from heavier iron and steel plating began to emerge this new armor was to be known as tamesha goo soku which can be roughly translated to bullet tested in addition blacksmiths also began to take designs of armor in the West changing the design of chest pieces yet again new chest pieces would shift away from being combined plates to instead becoming one strong single plate the Japanese also took Western designs for helmets and began shaping them into Japanese styles as well this armor would be known as non banku soku and was by far the most advanced armor Japan would see during the single kuchi die once the Sengoku Jidai came to a close and japan was reunified the evolution and development of armor faded out instead new designs focused on adapted protection armor worn under or in conjunction with usual samurai garb samurai armor wouldn't see heavy usage again until the Beauchene war and the Satsuma rebellion in the late 1800s which brought the samurai era to a close but although we have finished the evolution of armor in Japan I do want to touch on one final thing before I wrap things up that being what I stated in the beginning why didn't summer I use shields a question you may be wondering after going over all this armor information and there is an answer although it is a little complicated now the most common thing I hear is that samurai thought shields were dishonorable which although probably some samurai believed that that wasn't the case everywhere shields actually were used in Japan in fact quite a bit Japanese warriors had youth shield long before the samurai even came into being yet when the samurai took over things took a bit of a turn the early samurai were mounted archers which meant shields really couldn't be used on horseback the closest thing we get is the shoulder armor of the boy which in some cases could provide shield like protection thanks to its large square shape however we primarily see shield used for protecting foot soldiers as almost stationary defensive barriers these were called paté for instance erecting them in a line I did cover for archers in some cases they also had handles on the inside so that soldiers could move them when advancing these were called T dot a however as time went on most weaponry in Japan generally required two hands so T dot a never fully evolved beyond the point of stationary devices they truly fell out of favor when matchlock firearms began to take over as musket balls easily blew through the wooden shields this would prompt the construction of larger defensive structures which would better absorb musket volleys there were some metal 2.8 and chain mail today created yet the Sengoku Jidai ended before shield technology took any major leaps we can see that during the Edo period craftsmen did play around with the idea of furthering the design of today as hand shields but nothing massive would come of it so while yes shields can be seen used in feudal Japan they never took the large role shields did in the West so there you have history on the evolution of samurai armor and information on shield use in feudal Japan I know there is so much more I didn't get into and so much more in-depth I could go on the different variations of certain armor types but I simply wanted this video to be a nice overview of Japanese armor so with that said thank you for watching and don't forget to Like subscribe and ring that notification bell if you enjoyed this video and found it to be most informative

Channel: The Shogunate

Views: 1,076,822

Rating: 4.9347353 out of 5

Keywords: Samurai, History, battle, Armor, Shield, helmet, plate, chainmail, mask, sword, katana, bow, archer, bushido, honor, Japan, bushi, feudal, warrior, Clan

Id: -BnBtJIR9HU

Length: 13min 16sec (796 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 14 2020