Japanese armor has very much evolved over the course of its history. It was worn by various classes, the most notable of which were the samurais. Japanese samurai armor has also undergone changes of its own, though its basic components have remained the same. The armor worn by the japanese samurai consisted of a do (cuirass), one or two kote (armored sleeves), a pair of sode (shoulder guards), a pair of suneate (shin guards), a kusazuri (armored apron or skirt), and a kabuto (helmet). Haidate (thigh guards) were introduced in the 14th century and the mempo (face mask) was added in the 16th century.
Japanese samurai armor was designed to be as lightweight as possible since the samurai had to perform different tasks such as swordsmanship, archery, and horseback riding. The armor was usually brightly painted and silk garments were worn beneath it as defense from samurai swords, arrows and other samurai weapons. Lacing the armor was an art in itself and the colors of the lacing patterns were used to identify which clan a samurai belonged to. For instance, purple represented the Taira clan, yellow the Tachibana, and light green the Fujiwara. White cord was used if a samurai warrior did not expect to survive the battle since white is the color of mourning in Japan. The cord also indicated the status of the samurai; wide lacing was used for infantry troops while tight, intricate lacing was reserved for high ranking warriors.
The boxy o-yoroi ("great armor") type was the standard for the samurai until the 14th century. The kabuto for this Japanese samurai armor had distinguishing fukigaeshi (turnbacks or winglets) and kuwagata (stylized deer antlers). O-yoroi was ideal for mounted warfare, with its large square sode and equally big kusazuri. It also had colorful lacing that gave it an aristocratic appearance. Sometime in the 14th century battle conditions began to change; campaigns were becoming more drawn out and the samurai were fighting more on foot. The o-yoroi started to become heavy and unwieldy; thus, the do-maru cuirass, which was worn by the common soldier, was adopted by the samurai. This type of cuirass was lighter and easier for the wearer to move around in. The kusazuri was also made less bulky and this resulted in a lighter and more comfortable Japanese samurai armor.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, hostilities continued and grew, and the samurai were spending more time in their armor. The cuirass was modified so that the plates were laced and sewn together. However, the many cords absorbed water in wet weather which made the armor heavier, and sometimes mud got trapped, attracting lice and ants. In the winter, the cords were at risk of freezing solid. As a result, armorers created armor with solid strips of metal riveted together, cutting down the amount of cording. The kusazuri was made even smaller and was designed to curve downwards gently so it did not stick out as much as it did with the o-yoroi. These new suits are called tosei-gusoku or modern armor and were used from the 16th to 19th centuries.
