The suit of Armour size to wear is : 168cm – 185cm, it is about 25Kg.

Is made of cloth, wrought iron, metal sheet.

Please note that depending on material availability, the fabric used for the sleeves, obi, etc. are subject to change without prior notice.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Leadership Of The Tokugawa

In 1560 Imagawa Yoshimoto was slain during a battle with Oda Nobunaga, who was rapidly gaining power, and young Ieyasu seized the opportunity to return to his family’s small castle and assume control of his surviving relatives and vassals. Within months he took steps to ally himself with Nobunaga, at the same time pacifying the new and inept leader of the Imagawa house long enough to recall his wife and son from Sumpu. Freed for a few years from warring with neighbours, he directed his military efforts to crushing rebellious Buddhist sectarian groups within the Matsudaira (after 1566, Tokugawa) domain. Concurrently, he devoted much energy to improving his small army’s command structure, appointing civil administrators, and formulating and enforcing procedures of taxation, law enforcement, and litigation.

During the later 1560s the Imagawa domain disintegrated, and Ieyasu expanded to the east as opportunity permitted. In 1570 this expansion led him to move his headquarters eastward to Hamamatsu, a small coastal town that he developed into the commercial and strategic centre of a thriving domain. Relying heavily on his alliance with the now-mighty Nobunaga, Ieyasu survived the vicissitudes of endemic war and slowly extended his territory until, by the early 1580s, he had become an important daimyo (feudal baron), in control of the fertile and populous area stretching from Okazaki eastward to the mountain barrier at Hakone.

In 1582 Nobunaga was wounded by a rebellious subordinate and committed suicide; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his most brilliant general, quickly avenged the death and moved to assume Nobunaga’s preeminent political position. Ieyasu, then in the prime of life, emerged as his principal rival. After a few bloody but indecisive skirmishes, however, the cautious Ieyasu offered a vow of fealty, and Hideyoshi was content to leave Ieyasu’s domain intact. During the rest of the 1580s, while Hideyoshi busily extended his control over the daimyo of southwestern Japan, Ieyasu strengthened himself as best he could. He continued to enlarge his vassal force, increase his domain’s productivity, and improve the reliability of his administration. And in 1586, for greater security, he moved his headquarters even farther to the east, away from Hideyoshi, to Sumpu, the town he had known years before as a hostage.

Conflict with Takeda

In October 1571, Takeda Shingen, now allied with the Odawara Hōjō clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands in Tōtōmi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1572 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. The considerably larger Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, overwhelmed Ieyasu’s troops and caused heavy casualties. Despite his initial reticence, Ieyasu was convinced by one of his generals to retreat.The battle was a major defeat, but in the interests of maintaining the appearance of dignified withdrawal, Ieyasu brazenly ordered the men at his castle to light torches, sound drums, and leave the gates open, to properly receive the returning warriors. To the surprise and relief of the Tokugawa army, this spectacle made the Takeda generals suspicious of being led into a trap, so they did not besiege the castle and instead made camp for the night. This error would allow a band of Tokugawa ninja to raid the camp in the ensuing hours, further upsetting the already disoriented Takeda army, and ultimately resulting in Shingen’s decision to call off the offensive altogether. Incidentally, Takeda Shingen would not get another chance to advance on Hamamatsu, much less Kyoto, since he would perish shortly after the Siege of Noda Castle a year later in 1573

Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori. In 1575, the Takeda attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa Province. Ieyasu appealed to Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of a very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai Province.

For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles, as the result of which Ieyasu’s troops managed to wrest control of Suruga Province away from the Takeda clan.

In 1579, Ieyasu’s wife, and his heir Nobuyasu, were accused by Nobunaga of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga, whose daughter Tokuhime (1559–1636) was married to Nobuyasu. For this Ieyasu ordered his wife to be executed and forced his oldest son by her, Nobuyasu, to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: the trusted Oda clan general Toyotomi Hideyoshi, soon to be the most powerful daimyō in Japan.

The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai Province. Takeda Katsuyori was defeated at the Battle of Tenmokuzan and then committed seppuku.

Death of Nobunaga

In late June 1582, Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa. Ieyasu was mobilizing his army when he learned Hideyoshi had defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.

The death of Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga’s vassals, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu’s aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hōjō Ujimasa, leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai Province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu’s forces and the large Hōjō army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano Provinces, while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa Province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano Provinces).

At the same time (1583) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at Battle of Shizugatake. With this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyō in Japan.

The armor is wearable and comes standard sized for a man with a 106cm chest (+/- 3cm), standing at 5′ 8″ tall (+/- 3”) and is fully functional. Available in three different quality levels: Kachi, Gashira and Taisho. All three classes includes a free customary black lacquered box (Yoroi Bitsu) which, along with an included wooden frame, provides the support for the display and instructions.  Kachi Class yoroi does not include the Yoroi Bitsu and maybe purchased separately

Armor Quality

• Armor Quality :
• Kachi: Foot Soldier armor – Quickly made, basic painting and synthetic materials (like nylon instead of cotton, satin instead of silk) are used to keep the cost of the armor down.
  • The Kachi class will lack certain features, such as they do not have shoulder padding or a removable nose (it is fixed to the mask), they have a synthetic mustache and might have a few paint blemishes or iron plating and no brass fittings.
  • This class of armor is crafted for the samurai on a budget and those looking to modify their own amor.

Is the armor battle ready?

Although we do not recommend that quality armor to be used in any form of combat, it is however very capable of being used and withstanding the rigors of training and full contact sparring.

Along with traditional armor crafting, we believe in traditional armor testing.

Our armor has been tested with great success using fully functional, live samurai swords and other weapons.

Price Include: Armour, Kabuto , shikoro Menpo, Do , Sode , Kote, Kusazuri, Haidate, Suneate Real wear, can be adjusted for 1.68-1.8 m height,

Wooden Size: 50X47X62 Packing size: 56X53X68

Weight: 12.5 kg heavy wooden armor weight 7 kg

Material: iron, cloth, cotton, wood frame, wooden base

Color: Antique