Kabuto

For other uses, see Kabuto (disambiguation).

Kawari kabuto, iron and papier-mâché (for the shell), beginning of the Edo Period, 17th century . Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas (Texas)

A kabuto (兜, 冑) is a helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.

Kabuto were a prominent and important part of the equipment of the bushi, and played a symbolic role, as well. This explains the number of expressions, sayings and codes related to them. A few examples follow:

• Katte kabuto no o o shimeyo ("Tighten the string of the kabuto after winning the war"): don't lower your efforts after succeeding. Could be compared to not to rest on one's laurels.
• kabuto o nugu ("to take off the kabuto"): to surrender.

Upon the return of general peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Edo Period, armour became more elaborate and ceremonial. Many very luxurious armours were produced during this period. Fine armour continued to be produced up to the end of the Edo period in 1867, and slightly beyond. Later armours often emulated the garb of the romanticized Kamakura-Muromachi warriors.

Nowadays, smaller-sized Yoroi and kabuto are bought and kept by Japanese people as a personal interior collection or a seasonal home decoration item displayed during the Boys' Festival/May 5 for expressing the hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong.

History

Pre-samurai Japanese helmets from the 5th century have been found in excavated tombs. Called mabizashi-tuske kabuto (visor attached helmet), the style of these ancient helmets came from China and Korea and they had a pronounced central ridge.

Construction and types

Predecessor to the 'kabuto a Kofun period (5th century) helmet, iron and gilt copper, Ise Province .

A typical kabuto features a strong bowl (hachi), which protects the crown of the head, a suspended series of articulated plates (shikoro) to protect the neck, and various crests (datemono).

A kabuto was usually constructed from three to over a hundred metal plates (tate hagi-no-ita) , riveted together. The rivets (hoshi) that secure the metal plates (tate hagi-no-ita) of the kabuto to each other could be raised, creating a form known as hoshi-bachi, or hammered flat, leaving only the flanges of the plates protruding, a form known as suji-bachi, hari bachi kabuto had no flanges showing and the rivets are filed flush. Some of the finer helmets were signed by smiths, usually from one of several known families, such as the Myochin, Saotome, Haruta, Unkai, and Nagasone.

On most types of kabuto the plates are arranged vertically, and radiate from an opening in the top called the tehen or hachiman-za (seat of the war god, Hachiman). It is thought that one purpose of the tehen was for the warrior to pass his top knot through. Although this usage was largely abandoned after the Kamakura-Muromachi period, Other possible reasons for the tehen could have been for ventilation or just the result of how the plates were riveted together. The tehen remained as a feature of most helmets, and was decorated with a tehen kanamono, or rings of intricately-worked, soft metal bands surrounding the opening of the tehen which usually resembled a Chrysanthemum.Zunari kabuto and momonari kabuto did not usually have a tehan.

Most kabuto incorporate a suspended neck guard called a shikoro. This is usually composed of 3 to 7 semi-circular lacquered metal or oxhide lames, attached and articulated by silk or leather lacing (odoshi) although some shikoro were composed of 100 or more small metal scales (kozane) in a row. This system of lames is the standard technology of defense employed, along with chain armour (kusari), for the body protection in Japanese armour. The shikoro could also be made from panels of cloth with chain armor (kusari) sewn to the cloth (kusari shikoro). Kabuto would be secured to the head by a chin cord (shinobi-no-o) that would usually be tied to the various posts and or hooks of the facial armour (mengu) and the kabuto would have a cloth lining (ukebari).

Suji bachi kabuto (helmet with raised ribs), with front crest (maedate) and menpo (facial armour).

Kabuto are often adorned with crests called datemono, there were four types of crests, maedate (front crest), wakidate (side crests), kashiradate (top crest), ushirodate (rear crest). These can be family or clan emblems, or flat or sculptural objects representing animals, mythical entities, prayers or other symbols. Horns are particularly common, and many kabuto sport kuwagata, or stylized deer horns.

Types of kabuto

Kawari kabuto

Kawari kabuto, or "strange helmet". During the Momoyama period of intense civil warfare, kabuto were made to a simpler design of three or four plates, lacking many of the ornamental features of earlier helmets. To offset the plain, utilitarian form of the new helmet, and to provide visibility and presence on the battlefield, armorers began to build fantastic shapes on top of the simple helmets in harikake, or lacquered paper over a wooden armature. These shapes mimicked forms from Japanese culture and mythology, including fish, cow horns, the head of the god of longevity, bolts of silk, head scarves, Ichi-no-Tani canyon, and axe heads, among many others. Some forms were realistically rendered, while others took on a very futuristic, modernist feel. A definitive show of kawari kabuto was mounted by the Japan Society in 1985. The catalog, entitled "Spectacular Helmets of Japan" (ISBN 0-87011-784-X) is a good guide to this form.

Tatami kabuto

A great number of simpler lightweight folding, portable armours for lower-ranking samurai, foot soldiers (Ashigaru) and for travel were also produced, these are called tatami armors and some featured tatami kabuto which could fold and some could collapse (chochin) kabutos. Tatami kabutos were made from articulated lames, karuta, kikko or kusari armours.Tatami kabuto did not use rivets in their construction, instead lacing (odoshi) or chain armor (kusari) was used to connect the various types of armour to each other.

Gallery

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  Japanese (samurai) Edo period iron kabuto in the "zunari" style.

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  Japanese (samurai) Edo period iron chochin kabuto (collapsible helmet).

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  Samurai eboshi style kabuto (helmet).

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  Lacquered iron shikoro (neck guard).

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  Various kabuto maedate (front crests).

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  Antique Japanese (samurai) Edo period karuta kabuto with a kusari shikoro.

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  Tehen kanamono, decorative rings that cover the edge of the tehen on a Japanese kabuto.

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  Close up view of the inside of a 18 plate antique Edo period kabuto showing the tate hagi-no-ita (pie piece shape plate construction) and the tehen or hachiman-za.

Kabuto in Fiction

• The kabuto, along with the German Stahlhelm, was the inspiration for the helmet of Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.

See also

• Mengu (Japanese facial armour)
• Japanese armour

External links

• SengokuDaimyo.com The website of Samurai Author and Historian Anthony J. Bryant