Lamellar Armour - Japanese Lamellar Armour

Japanese Lamellar Armour

Lamellar armour reached Japan around the 5th century. The pre-samurai Japanese lamellar armour was called keiko. These early Japanese lamellar armours took the form of a sleeveless jacket and a helmet. The middle of the Heian period was when Japanese lamellar armour started to take the shape that would be associated with samurai armour. By the late Heian period Japanese lamellar armour developed into full-fledged samurai armour called Ō-yoroi. Japanese lamellar armours were made from hundreds or even thousands of individual leather (rawhide) and or iron scales/lamellae known as kozane, that were lacquered and laced together into armour strips. This was a very time consuming process. The two most common types of scales which made up the Japanese lamellar armours were hon kozane, which were constructed from narrow or small scales/lamellae, and hon iyozane, which were constructed from wider scales/lamellae .