Samurai Armour: Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass

Description

For beauty, precision and strength, nothing has ever matched the combination of form and function found in the armor of the Samurai. For a Samurai, the consumate warrior, his suit of armor was so much more than 'just' protective equipment that could save his life in the heat of battle. It was the embodiment of his personality, his social status and his very soul. Within these pages, an unparalleled expert in the field traces the history of a craft that dominated the lives of all those it touched, drawing on over 20 years of research and technical work to develop a complete study of all aspects of Samurai armour construction. As well as a detailed technical exploration of the many different physical aspects of the armour, it is a meditation on a process that was, and still is, nothing short of an art form. Cover Title Page Dedication CONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: JAPANESE HISTORY AND THE SAMURAI Prehistoric era to the early 17th century CHAPTER 2: THE DŌ (CUIRASS) The foundation of Japanese armour CHAPTER 3: ANCIENT ARMOUR Tankō, keikō, uchikake-keikō and men’ōchū, 2nd century BC–9th century AD CHAPTER 4: EARLY FORMS OF SAMURAI ARMOUR Yoroi, dō-maru, maru-dō, haramaki and hara-ate, 10th–15th centuries CHAPTER 5: PRE-MODERN DŌ DESIGNS The Mōgami, nuinobe and tatami methods, late 15th–16th centuries CHAPTER 6: TOSEI-DŌ MODERN CUIRASS DESIGNS, PART I Yokohagi-okegawa and related styles of dō, 16th century onward CHAPTER 7: TOSEI-DŌ MODERN CUIRASS DESIGNS, PART II Tatehagi-okegawa and related styles of dō, 16th century onward CHAPTER 8: TOSEI-DŌ MODERN CUIRASS DESIGNS, PART III Ashigaru, tatami and variations CHAPTER 9: COMING FULL CIRCLE The revival of ancient armour styles, 17th–19th centuries CHAPTER 10: THE WESTERNIZATION OF JAPANESE ARMOUR 19th–early 20th centuries NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY IMAGE SOURCES GLOSSARY INDEX eCopyright