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

This is a haramaki (simplified armor) with tsubosode (sleeves that become narrower toward the ends), which is bound together on the back. The lames on the cuirass are bound together with red, white and red threads in this order for the top three tiers and with brown thread for the remaining tiers while red and white threads are used in the bottom tiers. It has seven five-tiered kusazuri (a protective skirt that hangs from the bottom of the cuirass) and the metal plates have a hasso-shaped base, which has copper-plated, chrysanthemum branch-patterned openwork, with two pairs of double-petal chrysanthemum rivets.
The sleeves are round so that they fit the arms nicely and become narrower toward the ends. This style is called tsubosode. The six-tiered sleeves have the same color scheme as the cuirass, that is, red, white, red and brown. The upper part of the kanmuri-no-ita (a board at the top of a sleeve) is bent at a right angle so that it will not touch the neck, which is known as the orikanmuri style. Red strings are attached to both ends of the fifth tier of the sleeve lining to steady the arm.
　This is an excellent haramaki featuring the characteristics of the Muromachi period, including lames in moriagezane style (the upper part of each lame is swollen with thick lacquer), metal plates wrapped with mojishi-patterned leather and unique metal fittings. It had been handed down to the Age family in Sanuki (current Kagawa).