National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This is simplified armor for a foot soldier and the style where both ends of the armor are bound together on the right side is currently called domaru (cuirass). This type of cuirass is called kurokawa-katajiro-odoshi, where black lacquered lames are bound together with black leather strings and the top two tiers of front and back tateage (top parts of a cuirass on the front and the back) are bound with white thread. The lames are in the style of moriagezane, where the upper part of each lame is swollen with thick lacquer. While the armor is comprised mainly of leather lames, leather and iron lames are used alternately (ichimaimaze) on the front. When leather strings dyed in deep blue are used to bind lames to a cuirass, it is called black leather. The cuirass has eight five-tiered kusazuri (a skirt-like protective part that hangs from the bottom of a cuirass) and the breastplate and sideplate are wrapped with patterned leather called mojishigawa, fastened with kozakurabyo (small cherry blossom-shaped rivets) and rimmed with copper plated fukurin (a rim covering the edge of armor for protection or decoration). Gyoyo (a metal decoration in the shape of an apricot leaf) with a round suemon (a metal fitting) on which a chrysanthemum branch pattern is applied via openwork and plated with copper, hangs on the chest. Since goumi, fittings to which sleeves are attached, remain on the shoulders, it was originally accompanied by sleeves. This artifact had been handed down to the Cho family in Noto.