Japanese Samurai Helmet (kabuto) with mustached face mask (menpō), by Adam Krall

This samurai helmet or kabuto belonged to a mid-ranking samurai of the Otake family who resided in Nagasaki and fought on the side of the imperial forces in the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the Boshin War to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate.[1] The helmet is part of a complete armor set donated to the Illinois State Museum by Dr. Douglas Haring in 1965. Dr. Haring received the armor as a gift from a former student of his named Dr. Masaru Otake, who was related to the samurai who wore it.[2] The helmet is adorned with a crest (madate) on the helmet’s front, which is meant to represent a “Kikyo” or a Chinese Balloon Flower, the symbol of the Otake family.[3] Crafted from iron, leather, and silk, the Kabuto boasts a distinctive bowl-shaped design to fend off blows from above issued by mounted samurai.[4] The intricate lacing of silk and iron plates constitutes a protective neck guard, called a shikoro, designed to contract when not used by the samurai, allowing for easier storage and travel.[5] A noteworthy feature is the horsehair mustached menpo or half mask with an attached yodarekake or throat guard made of lacquered lamellar plates.[6] This facial armor protecting the warrior is intended to terrify the enemy and helps secure the helmet to the warrior's head. The mask is removable, by twisting the iron hooks called orekuji, enabled the samurai to eat, drink, and communicate on the battlefield. The helmet balances form and function, offering protection to the samurai and visual intimidation to their enemies.

Footnotes

1] Dr. Douglas Haring to the Illinois State Museum via Miss Betty Madden, March 1, 1965, folder attached to Suit of Armor, 1965.2.750040. Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL.

[2] Accession Record of the Illinois State Museum, March 1, 1965, folder attached to Suit of Japanese Samurai Armor, 1965.2.750040. Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL.

[3] Masaru V. Otake to the Illinois State Museum via Miss Betty I. Madden, March 16, 1965, folder attached to Suit of Japanese Armor, 1965.2.750040. Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL.

[4] Morihiro Ogawa, Art of Armor: Samurai Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum New Haven , CT: Yale University Press, 2012, 74-75.

[5] Trevor Absolon, Samurai Armor Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017), 319-320.

[6] Ogawa, Art of Armor, 223