Armor with Asagi Twill Lacing (with Helmet and Large Sleeves)

A Typical Great Armor of the Late Kamakura Period

The Armor with Asagi Twill Lacing (with Helmet and Large Sleeves) (浅黄綾威鎧〈兜、大袖付〉) is a Kamakura-period great armor owned by Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which in 1951 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records one suit with helmet and large shoulder guards, 76.5 centimetres high, the helmet bowl 11.5 centimetres and the shoulder guards 38.0 centimetres, owned by Itsukushima Shrine.

The Agency records an earlier designation under the old system in 1923.

Construction

According to the Agency, black-lacquered iron and leather scales are laced with pale blue-green (asagi) twill, though the twill is lost and only the folded pale blue cloth core remains; the red cross-stitching is almost complete. The front leather is dyed with Fudo Myoo and two attendants on a peony ground, and the metal fittings are edged with leather dyed with lions and peonies.

The helmet is a round bowl of 32 lacquered iron plates with silvered strips on four sides and a crest holder for horns; the neck guard has five tiers and the shoulder guards seven.

What to Look For

The Agency notes that compared with early Kamakura armor its scales are finer, the body is straight or narrows at the hem, and the helmet rivets are smaller and denser; elegance replaces robustness, clearly showing late Kamakura traits.

The body and shoulder guards have five and seven tiers instead of the usual four and six, fitting the name kinaga. The Agency calls it a typical armor of its age, splendid in the colours of its lacing and fittings.

Visiting the Armor with Asagi Twill Lacing (with Helmet and Large Sleeves)

The armor is owned by Itsukushima Shrine and is not always on display; check the shrine's announcements.