The Samurai Armor
The Defensive Element Of Samurai Weapons

The fascinating secrets behind the Japanese Samurai Armor.

What actually went on during Ancient Japanese culture?
Discover what made these warriors so skillful with their Samurai clothing and swords.

Browse my History of the Samurai gallery for more information on Samurai culture.

Ancient Japanese culture comes to life in the pages about Samurai Weapons and swords, Clothing and Armor.

The image that first comes to mind when imagining the famous Japanese warriors is their Japanese swords.

However, the armor, the helmet, and the Samurai masks were an important part of Samurai weapons.
They were worn only during fighting.

Casual everyday Samurai clothing was the kimono.

But the Armor, the helmet and the Samurai masks were a very important and often overlooked aspect of the Japanese warrior's culture.

The look of a fully equipped Japanese warrior, with Samurai masks, armor and helmet, must have been very intimidating for the enemy.

The unique artwork of producing the armor was a skill that was learned for years by Japanese artisans. Every detail was made by hand of course.

The first attempts of making Japanese Samurai Armor for the Japanese warriors produced a heavy and non-flexible result, much like the armors we all know from medieval times in Europe.

The challenge was to produce an effective protection without restricting the warrior's movement.

Since the warriors engaged in face to face combats involving the Japanese swords, they needed fast and precise movements.

The brilliant solution was the invention of the 'fish scale' Armor.

It was made from numerous tiny plates of steel instead of big pieces of steel plates.

The tiny steel plates were tied between them with a leather cord. Only the chest plate was usually made from one piece of metal.

The tiny steel plates didn't cover the whole body, only the most vulnerable parts, because of the weight of steel.
The rest of the body was covered with thick leather plates.

The development of an Armor that imitates nature is credited to the Japanese respect and observation of nature.

The Japanese Armor is colorful and beautiful.

You can see a display of the armor in one of Tokyo museums.

For more exciting stories about the warrior's culture, Weapons and their swords, please return from Samurai Armor to History of the Samurai gallery for lots more unique information on the Japanese warriors.

All of the photos on the Gallery are links to pages about the Samurai armor and swords.

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