O-Yoroi – The Unique Samurai Armor

Samurai were the great warriors of ancient Japan who used to wear a unique armor suit popularly known as O-Yoroi. This armor was made up of metal plates, leather and fabric and was heavily adorned too. Such a construction made it very heavy in weight. The various components of Samurai armor included helmet, cuirass, shoulder guards, arm bracers, gauntlets and greaves. All these components didn’t leave any part of the warrior’s body exposed. The Samurai warriors like other medieval warriors had full protection from the lethal blows of their opponents in the form of their armor that fully covered them from head to toe.

The most distinctive part of O-Yoroi was a traditional Japanese helmet known as Kabuto. Kabuto was actually a combination of helmet and mask. It was normally heavily adorned with bright colors in Japanese cloth and steel. It was also often decorated with different family crests, displaying the rich heritage of the warriors. The helmet provided full protection to the head while the mask that was known as Menpo protected the face. This mask transformed the look of a Samurai into a really frightening soldier.

To protect the upper body parts, Samurai used cuirass known as Do. It was made up of two parts, one protected the right side of the body and the other protected the left side. Other than a cuirass, several other items of armor were also added to the overall attire that included neck protectors, shoulder guards, arm bracers and gauntlets. For the protection of lower body, Samurai wore special leg armor known as greaves.

A samurai warrior with all these protective components gave a very heavily armored look. Today even after so many years people still recall the charisma and charm of the armor suits of Samurai warriors. Many history lovers greatly buy the replicas of O-Yoroi for decoration and costume purposes.