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Horo (cloak)

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Oikago, the framework of a horo.
A samurai wearing the horo, a garment used as a defense against arrows.
A horo, opened up flat.

A horo (母衣) was a type of cloak or garment attached to the back of the armour worn by samurai on the battlefields of feudal Japan.

Description

A horo was around 1.8 m (6 ft) long long and made from several strips of cloth sewn together with fringe on the top and bottom edges. The cloth strips when sewn together and formed into a sort of bag which would fill with air like a balloon when the wearer was riding a horse.[1] A light framework of wicker, bamboo or whale bone known as an oikago, similar to a crinoline, which is said to have been invented by Hate Kayama Masanaga during the Onin War (1467–1477),[2] was sometimes used to keep the horo expanded. Attaching the horo generally involved a combination of fastening cords and possibly a staff. The top cords were attached to either the kabuto (helmet) or chest armor (dō) of the wearer while the bottom cords were attached to the waist.[3] The family crest (mon) of the wearer was marked on the horo.[4]

Use

Horo were used as far back as the Kamakura period (1185–1333).[5] When inflated the horo was said to protect the wearer from arrows shot from the side and from behind.[6][7][8] Wearing a horo is also said to have marked the wearer as a messenger (tsukai-ban) or person of importance.[9] According to the Hosokawa Yusai Oboegaki, the diary of Hosokawa Yusai (1534-1610) taking of an elite tsukai-ban messenger's head was a worthy prize. "When taking the head of a horo warrior, wrap it in the silk of the horo. In the case of an ordinary warrior, wrap it in the silk of the sashimono".[10]

References

  1. ^ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275-279
  2. ^ Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan, Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 p.221
  3. ^ The samurai: warriors of medieval Japan, 940-1600, Anthony J. Bryant, Angus McBride, Osprey Publishing, 1989 p.63
  4. ^ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275-279
  5. ^ Arms and armor of the samurai: the history of weaponry in ancient Japan, Ian Bottomley, Anthony Hopson, Crescent Books, 1993 p.59
  6. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 15, Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919 p.744
  7. ^ The grey goose wing, Ernest Gerald Heath, New York Graphic Society, 1972 p.224
  8. ^ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275-279
  9. ^ Samurai Commanders (2): 1577-1638, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing, 2005 p.24
  10. ^ Samurai: The Code of the Warrior, Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 p.181
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