Miniature Samurai Armor

The samurai were the ruling class in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868). Because this was a time of peace, the weapons and armor of the samurai were most often not used for battle but to represent status. Armor was the most visually spectacular form of this public display and was created with the skilled craftsmanship of not only metalworkers but also specialists in textiles, lacquer, and painting.

For samurai families, the annual Tango no Sekku festival 端午の節句 on the fifth day of the fifth month was a time when boys of the family would set up the family’s suits of armor for public viewing to demonstrate prosperity and to ward off evil. By the Edo period, suits of armor were replaced by dolls or miniature sets of armor like this one, made by the same workshops that made full-sized armor.

The protective function of this set of armor was enhanced by the golden Buddhist deity you can see on the helmet. Fudō Myōō 不動明王, the “Immovable Wisdom King” is an important deity in Japan, understood in part as a protector and a ferocious foe of ignorance. His appearance, surrounded by flames, glaring fiercely, and grasping a sword (missing here) made him popular with the samurai.