Short Cuirass with Riveted Triangular Plates 三角板鋲留短甲さんかくいたびょうどめたんこう

Description

Iron sheets were riveted together to make this armor. Such armor was distributed to local rulers by centralized authorities.

This armor was used during Japan's Kofun period, which lasted from around the 3rd to the 7th century. Armor from this time was made of several iron plates fitted together. As it only protected the chest and stomach area, it is known as tanko, or 'short armor.' Short armor was basically made by attaching iron plates to a frame of belt-like iron pieces. This armor features triangular plates fastened together with iron rivets over the upper back area and elsewhere.

This type of armor was unique to the Japanese archipelago and was used across a wide area, from Tohoku in the northeast to Kyushu in the south. It is thought the armor may have been mass produced in the Kinki region, the center of power at the time, and then distributed to regional rulers. This armor was made in the 5th century, during the time of the five kings of Wa, as ancient Japan was known. This was an era when rulers vied for supremacy throughout East Asia by dispatching envoys to China's Southern dynasties, for example. The distribution of mass-produced armor across all of Japan's main island speaks volumes about the martial nature of Kofun culture at the time.