Armor - East Meets West: European Armor in Japan, Its History and Influence on the Japanese Counterpart


Itabashi Historical Museum.  54 pages.  Japanese with English translation.   2009

26 x 20cm

An interesting compilation of important European and Japanese armors from the Yasukuni Shrine, the Traditional Sword Preservation Museum in Seki, as well as private collection pieces are represented in a historical and artistic context illustrating the European influence on Japanese armor.  In addition, a number of fine replica armors by pre-eminent modern katchushi Miura Shigetoshi and Miura Hiromichi are illustrated which were painstakingly constructed using European and Japanese traditional methods respectively.  The publication illustrates not only the armors, but important historic scholarly works published in both Europe and Japan, as well as associated arms such as rifles.  Two articles are presented:  1) European Armor and Namban Dou Gusoku in the Renaissance Period, by Miura Shigetoshi, and 2) A Comparison of Western and Japanese Armor: Insights by a Japanese Armor Smith's Apprentice, by Andrew Mancabelli.