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

Armor that is bound together on the back and was worn by lowly samurai is called "haramaki." Although it was originally composed only of a cuirass, sleeves and a helmet were added in the Muromachi period and together, it also became popular among warlords.
　This haramaki is in the style of kurokawa-katasusodori-odoshi, where the top three tiers on the chest are bound together with white, red and white threads in this order, while the tiers below them are bound with black leather strings and the bottom two tiers with red and white threads. The hassokanamono (metal decoration) on the chest comprises a base, where a chrysanthemum branch pattern is applied via openwork and plated with copper and two pairs of double-petal chrysanthemum rivets. Other metal plates 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). The sleeves are in the style of seven-tiered osode (literally big sleeves) bound with red, white and red threads for the first three tiers and black leather strings for the rest. This is a haramaki typical of the Muromachi period and is believed to have been owned by the Age family in Sanuki (current Kagawa).