Armor with Red Lacing (with Large Sleeves)

The Only Surviving Armor of Its Kind

The Armor with Red Lacing (with Large Sleeves) (赤絲威鎧〈大袖付〉) is a Heian-period armor owned by Oyamazumi Shrine in Miyaura, Omishima-cho, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, which in 1952 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records one suit with large shoulder guards, 31.0 centimetres high, owned by Oyamazumi Shrine.

According to the Agency, though it lacks a helmet, it has large shoulder guards and chest pieces and has all the elements of a great armor.

Construction

According to the Agency, flat black-lacquered iron and leather scales alternate, laced with red thread, edged with woven braid and cross-stitched in red leather. The fittings are faced with silver-alloy plates with silvered rims and studded with open-fan ornaments.

The leather areas are covered with chrysanthemum-dyed leather, and the back plate with iris-dyed leather showing horsemen among pines and willows. The skirt has seven sections of five tiers and the shoulder guards seven tiers.

What to Look For

The Agency explains that the body is continuous, closing at the right side, and the skirt is divided into seven sections, features of the domaru; it thus combines the traits of the great armor and the domaru. Armors of this kind appear in the Heiji and Gosannen battle scrolls, but this is the only one that survives.

The Agency calls it an extraordinary survival, its mirror-faced fittings, fine scales and pictorially dyed leathers retaining an elegant and splendid character.

Visiting the Armor with Red Lacing (with Large Sleeves)

Check Oyamazumi Shrine's announcements for display.