Saturday, January 7, 2012

samurai armour

 ... a final post on a series of sketches from Nagoya Castle...

There's a display of various items related to the warrior class of the time Nagoya Castle was in use as a military stronghold, including this impressive 1847 set of armour. It is referred to as a "go-mai-dou gusoku", denoting that the torso piece is a 5 piece type.

Each year, on May 5th, "Children's Day" is celebrated in Japan. Typically associated with boys (whereas March 3rd, "Hinamatsuri" is associated with girls), families decorate their homes with miniature (but sometimes quite elaborately crafted) versions of samurai armour as a sign of hope that the children will grow strong and healthy.

At my mother's place in Nagoya, I found the one that was bought for me by my grandparents when I was born, and I shipped it back to Canada... hopefully in time for this May 5th, for my one year old son. That is another sketch...


some other items on display... a short sword
a pair of decorated metal stirrups

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