Gunbai: Ancient Japanese Warfare

Manchira ( 満智羅 ) - Japanese Auxiliary Armor A section taken by the  島原の乱図屏風 showing a warrior wearing a manchira. Today I want to talk with a brief article of one of the most important, and yet overlooked, Japanese armor piece found on late Japanese armor usually referred as tōsei gusoku ( 当世具足 ). The manchira (which can also be written  満智羅, 満散,満乳羅 or 摩牟知羅 ) , also known as  manjūwa ( 饅頭輪 ), mantōwa ( 満頭輪 ) or kataōi ( 肩被 ) is essentially an armored vest that was used either as a standalone armor or as a form of chest protector to be worn under or over the main breastplate, the d ō ( 胴 ). A sketch made by me showing cuirass plus manchira configuration. For those who are familiar with European armor, this item functioned both as a form of arming doublets with integrated voiders or as a form of "mail" shirt. As I've written in my detailed analysis of  tōsei gusoku  ( 当世具足 ) armor, this piece of equipment was actually used to cover the g...

Tankō (短甲): Kofun period laminar armor A classic Kofun period warrior wearing tank ō  armor, from  短甲冑着用男子図. Before reading all of this, I have to say that this article was made possible thanks to the book of Mr. Trevor Absolon: " Samurai Armour: Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass: 1 (General Military) . Bloomsbury Publishing " . Without his work, this would not have been possible. If you want to buy his book, I strongly recommend to do, since aside few flaws it is probably one of the best books on the subject in English. One of the first armor associated with the Japanese culture is the so called  Tankō (短甲 ) , a solid clamshell cuirass made with riveted or laced iron plates used during the Kofun period ( 古墳時代 ), in between the 4th and 6th century. Although it is often said that this armor was the first type of armor developed in Japan , it wasn't; armor have been used in Japan since the Yayoi period, and the Tank ō  was neither an entirely Japanese design. In...

O'Yoroi (大鎧) - Classical Samurai Armor The main O'yoroi section, with the additional plates, from  甲冑備考 Within the "Samurai Culture" there are few things that could get as much value as the "Great Harness", the O'Yoroi ( 大鎧 ) * . In fact, since the earliest period and until the very end of the Samurai class, this armor have always been considered a symbol of being a warrior in Japan. Unlike the modern armors, this particular harness could be categorized in one big family, although there were some changes during the ages. It was use as an effective piece of gear on the Japanese battlefield from the 10th to the early 14th century , and its usage started to decline in the late 13th century, when the more versatile Dō Maru ( 胴丸 ) and Haramaki ( 腹巻 ) styles of armor started to replace it among the nobles. Despite its retirement from the field, the O'Yoroi was still produced during the later centuries to be donated to shrines or to function ...