History of the Tõsei Gusoku suit of armor - Helmet

Tõsei Gusoku Helmet

Spencer Hatfield

            Samurai were expected to be avid fighters, and to do this the right equipment needed to be used for the job. While a variety of artistic and beautiful samurai armor sets have been used throughout history, it was important that these pieces of armor were also functional. The tõsei gusoku (meaning “modern armors”) armor set rose to popularity in the Edo period, during the 17th century and is arguably one of the most recognizable samurai armor sets today¹. This armor was designed specifically with the intent of being somewhat of a hybrid design with both combat effectiveness and day-to-day life kept in mind². Emerging from a period of feudal wars that allowed the samurai to experience all of the flaws with their current armor, a more comfortable, durable armor, was designed with a variety of benefits³. Specifically, the tõsei gusoku helmet will be discussed here. The helmet, hineno zunari kabuto, was constructed out of three to four large metal plates and offered great protection against projectiles and bladed weapons¹. This type of helmet was much easier to make than previous helmets due to their optimized bent plate and rivet design³. Some were even made to collapse flat, with metal plates being sewed to a fabric base. The metal plates were usually made out of jingasa, a type of iron³. Higher ranking officers were able to show their power by wearing helmets with a higher plate count, even up to one-hundred and twenty plates!³ This helmet features the bowl, or hachi, which was lined with padding known as ukebari. The neck was protected with the attached shikoro.¹ The upper plate of the shikoro was bent outward, creating the recognizable fukigaeshi, which provided additional defense to the facial region.⁴ The fukigaeshi were eventually decreased in size as firearms became more prominent, as they no longer provided additional defense and only reduced visibility.⁴ Another main feature of this helmet was the mask, comprised of the menpo, or war mask, to cover the samurai’s face, and the guruwa or “gorget” to protect the throat.¹ The guruwa was constructed of metal lame (metal stranded fabric) to protect against slashing attacks at the throat.¹ This helmet protected the samurai’s head and throat quite well, really only leaving a small weak spot above the guruwa, where the samurai’s eyes are. While this was a weak spot, this area needed to remain open and clear for the samurai to have decent visibility.¹ This weak spot is also small enough that a samurai would only have to turn their head a little bit to deflect an oncoming attack, typically using the mabizashi, or visor.¹ While this helmet was already quite protective, sometimes a shitajikoro, or “mail curtain” would be added underneath the shikoro to provide more protection to the throat. However, both the shikoro and additional shitajikoro were quite restrictive of a samurai’s movement, so more lightweight versions with larger areas cut out for the mouth were used in situations where defense was not of up most importance.¹ Some variations of the zunari kabuto helmets known as kawari-kabuto were also very popular during this time period, and featured intricate and complex adorning pieces known as date.³ The date would be in shapes such as animals, mythical creatures, and horns, made of metals and wood or paper with a lacquered finish. Hair was also sometimes attached to these more showpiece style helmets.³ While the tõsei gusoku helmet was fashionable for the time, it was also a very effective piece of equipment that shows the samurai’s ability to adapt to modern technology and manufacturing while maintaining respect for their samurai culture by preserving helmet characteristics found previous designs.

1. Gunsen History, “Japanese Armor Body Coverage Explained,” Gunbai: Ancient Japanese Warfare, accessed April 13, 2024. http://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2017/10/tosei-gusoku-body-coverage-explained.html.
2. Steel, Alec, “8 Most Famous Samurai Armor and Armorers in History,” Smithing Society, accessed April 13, 2024. https://smithingsociety.com/blacksmithing/history/samurai-armors/.
3. Petrov Bedrosov, Boris, “The Evolution of Japanese Armour,” myarmoury.com, accessed April 13, 2024. http://myarmoury.com/feature_jpn_armour.php.
4. Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art, “5 fundamental elements of japanese kabuto, the samurai helmet,” Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art, accessed April 13, 2024. https://www.giuseppepiva.com/en/news/5-fundamental-elements-japanese-kabuto-samurai-helmet.

Bibliography

Gunsen History. “Japanese Armor Body Coverage Explained.” Gunbai: Ancient Japanese Warfare. accessed April 13, 2024. http://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2017/10/tosei-gusoku-body-coverage-explained.html.

Steel, Alec. “8 Most Famous Samurai Armor and Armorers in History.” Smithing Society. accessed April 13, 2024. https://smithingsociety.com/blacksmithing/history/samurai-armors/.

Petrov Bedrosov, Boris. “The Evolution of Japanese Armour.” myarmoury.com, accessed April 13, 2024. http://myarmoury.com/feature_jpn_armour.php.

Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art. “5 fundamental elements of japanese kabuto, the samurai helmet.” Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art. accessed April 13, 2024. https://www.giuseppepiva.com/en/news/5-fundamental-elements-japanese-kabuto-samurai-helmet.

Development of Kabuto during 13th-15th Century

Halle Casey

Samurai Kabuto changed drastically over time. By the Early Muromachi Period (1333-1668), more decorative yet cost-effective helmets were becoming available in contrast to the ancient less-adorned ones from the Heian Period (794-1185). This was because more artistic development was occurring under simultaneous internal political turbulence. For instance, upper-class Samurai started wearing the Suji Kabuto. Suji, meaning strip, was an iron helmet covered in brass that featured a rivetless neckpiece that protected its wearer. Also called the “akoda-nari” or “akotanari” due to its resemblance to the fruit akoda. This helmet was significantly popular due to its ability to be cheaply and quickly produced, which was incredibly important for a time when many Samurai were needed in battle. However, the average soldier did not wear this kabuto. The average soldier, also known as an ashigaru, would have less ornate armor, as seen in the picture above. The Jiangsu was a thin hat-like piece of iron that was sometimes decorated with artwork and symbols. Although Samurai would use Jingasu for menial tasks such as traveling to battle, they were never used for combat as they were not protective. Only ashigaru, usually poor enlisted farmers, used them for combat. The Muromachi Period saw the development of extremely detailed and symbolic kabuto. While the Suji was used for warfare, other kabuto were developed purely for status symbols. For instance, the kawari-kabuto or “exotic helmets” were extremely detailed helmets used to show status and wealth. Some featured animals and symbols of clans. Just like the samurais Jiangsu, the kawari was not used for the battlefield. It was simply a status symbol that marked your place as an elite samurai. Wealth symbols were increasing during this time because it was a period of immense economic development. All in all, during the 13th to 15th centuries, the kabuto went through many changes to reflect economic development and social status.

Bibliography

Art, Department of Asian. “Muromachi Period (1392–1573): Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, 1AD. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/muro/hd_muro.htm. 

Bedrosov, Boris. “The Evolution of Japanese Armour.” myArmoury.com. Accessed April 13, 2024. http://myarmoury.com/feature_jpn_armour.php. 

Bottomley, Ian. “The Art of Defense, a History of Samurai Helmets.” Sothebys.com, April 30, 2021. https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-art-of-defense-a-history-of-samurai-helmets. 

Hamada, Jun-ichiro, and Nobuo Hashimoto. “The Kabuto, or the Japanese Helmet: Evolution from War Implement to Status Symbol.” Neurosurgery 51, no. 4 (October 2002): 871–79. https://doi.org/10.1227/00006123-200210000-00005. 

From Starry Scales to Streamlined Steel: A History of the Early Kabuto

Field Willis

A tactic of instilling fear and admiration in opponents for centuries, the kabuto was the iconic helmet of the samurai. The country of Japan endured years and years of conflict with the warrior class clashing, not over the throne but over who controlled it (Bottomley). The samurai prided themselves in the levels of artistry and craftsmanship that they endured into their helmets and armor. The kabuto comprises two vital parts: the bowl piece, hachi, and the neck guard, shikoro. A large part of the samurai culture was to pride themselves in status or identification. Many samurais would attach some individualistic piece to their helmets. The most notorious is the horn or antler-like addition to the front of the hachi; this was called kuwagata. 

The hachi, a marvel of construction, was composed of rows of rectangular scales, each vertically pinned with large domed-headed rivets known as hoshi, or star. This initial description is the origin of the name hoshi kabuto, or star helmet (Bedrosov). The shikoro was riveted to the hachi, a crucial part of the helmet, and was a neck guard that provided additional protection. The shikoro was a conical, hemispherical shape consisting of five roses of trapezoidal scales called kozane. For protection, the front ends of the upper rows in the shikoro were bent up to protect the face of the wearer from arrows or sword strikes from the side or back; this is called fukigaeshi. The fukigaeshi was usually covered in leather and decorated heavily with ornaments. These parts were the first kabuto made in Japan leading up to the 12th century. 

As mentioned before, the very popular horn or antler-like addition, kuwagata, became highly relevant; not many know the exact reasoning, but some hypothesized that it symbolized devil’s horn or cow’s horns, one of the two - regardless of meaning, it was a prevalent feature to wear on your kabuto. Nearing the end of the 12th century, helmets started to become more spherical, and the number of plates used for the hachi increased heavily. Also introduced were the suji, basically ribs for hachi that added great strength to the helmet without unwanted mass. Then, in the 13th century, the inside lining for the bowl, named ukebari, was introduced. Once intricate and complex, these helmets transformed, becoming more straightforward as the 14th and early 15th centuries approached (Bedrosov). The rivets were flattened, and the surface was coated; the helmets were now named suji-bachi kabuto—ribbed bowl helmets. Another change was the shikoro, which was broader, and the fukigaeshi shrunk in size. The decorations that were so important to the samurai slowly diminished, and they were only seen on the printed leather. 

Face armor, men yoroi, appeared in the 11th century but only became entirely popular in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The face masks could be categorized into five different groups:

• Happuri (forehead and cheeks).
• Hanbo (half-mask, some throat/chin).
• Hoate (half-mask, covering everything except nose, eyes, and mouth), menpo (half-mask, covering all under eyes), 
• Shomen (full mask, covering the entire face).

The features of the men yoroi were usually exaggerated remarkably, with extravagant paintings, facial hair, and jewleries (Bedrosov). Most of the time, the masks were made out of steel or leather with innards coated in red, which provided a warlike appearance; the masks would depict spirits or some religious being to strike fear into the enemy. 

Bibliography:

• Bottomley, Ian. “The Art of Defense, a History of Samurai Helmets.” Sothebys.com, Sotheby’s, 8 May 2019, www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-art-of-defense-a-history-of-samurai-helmets.
• Bedrosov, Boris. “The Evolution of Japanese Armour.” MyArmoury.com, 2004, myarmoury.com/feature_jpn_armour.php.