History of the Tõsei Gusoku suit of armor - Body

Different variations of armor were worn by samurai throughout the centuries of their existence in Japan. During the Heian and Kamakura periods, the onset of the class’ development, samurai wore what was called o-yoroi, “great armor.” This is the armor described in Tale of the Heike. Named for its large size, o-yoroi was generally worn by high-ranking, mounted warriors. Unlike the European armor from its time, o-yoroi was made with archery in mind, both in terms of allowing the user to perform it and defending against the arrows of opponents. Domaru was another style of armor originally used by the infantry during this period but was eventually adopted by higher-ranking samurai in order to adapt to the emerging fighting style that was more group-oriented. Domaru marks the introduction of the armored skirt (kusazuri) in samurai armor. This skirt redistributed the weight of the armor, was genrally smaller, and enhanced the wearer’s mobility compared to the o-yoroi. The domaru was good for close combat, now more popular for samurai, as it protected both arms rather than just one (for archery purposes) with kote (armored sleeves) and now covered the shoulders with the use of sode (shoulder guards). By the Muromachi Period, use of the domaru had become more widespread.

By the Momoyama and Edo periods, samurai armor had a closer resemblance to European armor as they moved away from boxy styles that hung from the shoulders and toward one closer to a true “suit” of armor. Tosei gusoku, named for its many individual pieces welded together, was widely used by the samurai at this point. It allowed for freedom of movement that was intrinsic for the group-oriented combat style engaged in during this time. Using rivets to secure plates of metal was adopted with gunfire in mind, as these were much stronger as well as harder to cut through and therefore more protective than the previous technique of lacing metal. The added consideration of guns leading to the tosei gusoku amounts to a significant shift in samurai history.

During the late nineteenth century, samurai often wore armor that meshed the decorative, symbolic aspects of the o-yoroi and the individual plates of the gusoku armor to retain mobility.

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