DISPOSABLE THIGH GUARDS, luoni while on horseback, were often taken off for easy movement on foot.
Despite the rigors of a samurai's training, his methods of combat were based on a principle of deftly applied "gentleness." The technique was similar to that of modern jujitsu (literally, "the gentle art"), in which an adroit flexibility of movement wins out over brute strength.
The same principle applied to the construction of Japanese armor, which protected its wearer with flexibility and "give" instead of rigid bulk. Unlike European armor, with its massive steel plates, Japanese armor consisted of tiny scales of lacquered iron, or lamellae, laced together in rows with silk cords (far right). The result was a metallic fabric, as pliable as European chain mail, but considerably tougher.
METAL-CASED SLEEVES consisted of a Japanese type of chain mail and iron splints sewn onto heavy cloth.
Combined with flexibility, Japanese armor had the added advantage of being relatively light. While European knights were so encumbered by heavy steel that derricks were needed to lift them onto their horses, a samurai's armor weighed only about 25 pounds, allowing its wearer to leap with agility through rice paddies and over castle walls. In addition, it could be folded into a compact box for easy carrying when not in use, and if cut by a sword it could be mended by lacing on new lamellae.
A SHEATH FOR THE TORSO, made from rows of iron lamellae, included armored skirt-panels for the hips.
MULTICOLORED STITCHING of braided silk cord covered the outside surface (top) of Japanese armor. The cords held rows of lamellae, seen clearly from the armor's underside (bottom).
BROAD SHOULDER GUARDS of threaded lamellae hung like epaulets from the shoulders of the torso sheath.
World History
