Samurai Arm Guard

A pair of black-lacquered, iron, jacket style samurai arm guards (tetsu kuro urushi nuri sashinuki-gote). The sashinuki style refers to the extended foundation joining the sleeves, which wraps around the torso forming a jacket, similar to a manchira.

The exterior fabric has a pattern of white flowers with green and purple leaves on a brown background. The interior fabric is made of light blue silk. The fabrics are joined at an edge made of blue leather with white flowers. The upper portions of the sleeves are a wide and bag-like rather than form-fitting. These wider sleeves allow the arm guards to cover the underarm and chest where breaks in the armor may not normally protect. Additionally, the sleeves extend into crescent-shaped segments which wrap around from back to front to form a sort of jacket. These sections have hidden, armored plates sandwiched between the fabric. Dark brown toggles made of horn are attached to the cap plates and to the ends of the bag-like upper section of the sleeves. Stenciled leather is used on the small interior portion of the jacket which would rest on the neck.

Mail (kusari) made of small, circular links connects metal plates on the upper and lower arms. The upper arm has twenty five rectangular plates (karuta) arranged in a 5x5 grid, all coated with black lacquer. The lower arm has three long splints (shino) on the outside of the arm and four shorter splints on the inside, each coated with black lacquer. The hand guard (tekko) is made of four black-lacquered plates. The elbow plate (hijigane) is a conical disc. The sleeve is tightened and tied with green silk cords and secured with toggles.