, or "body wrap", is a type of chest armour (''dou or dō'') that was worn by the
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
class of
feudal Japan
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...
. ''Dō-maru'' first appeared in the 11th century, as an armour for lesser samurai and retainers. Like the ''
ō-yoroi
The is a prominent example of early Japanese armor worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The term ''ō-yoroi'' means "great armor".(Mondadori, 1979, p. 507).
History
''Ō-yoroi'' first started to appear in the 10th century during the mid ...
'' style it became more common in the
Genpei War
The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...
at the end of the 12th century.
Description
There were quite a number of similar styles and types of Japanese armor; the ''dō-maru'' is particularly defined by the fact that a ''dō-maru'' opens on the right side as opposed to the ''haramaki'' style, which opens in the back, and the ''ō-yoroi'', the cuirass of which is completely open on the right side, requiring a separate plate (''waidate'') to cover the right side. The ''ō-yoroi'' is a heavy, box-like type of armour meant for use on horseback, and was expensive to make. The ''dō-maru'', like the ''haramaki'', has more skirt plates (''kusazuri'') than an ō-yoroi and is lighter, closer-fitting, and cheaper to create. The ''dō-maru'' was easier to fight with on foot and eventually even higher status samurai adopted it over the ''ō-yoroi''.
''Dō-maru'' were constructed from small scales of
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...
or metal laced into plates with cord and lacquered, then each plate was laced together to form the armor. Due to the weight of iron, armour makers limited its use to the most vital parts of the armor and used leather for the remainder.
See also
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others)
References
External links
*
Anthony Bryant's web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Do-Maru
Samurai armour