Samurai Armour Chain Mail - Kusari
Japanese Armourers Used different shaped rings & links to create chain mail and had more variations than any other nation.
Japanese Chain mail (or maille) is called kusari, which translates to simply, chain, and was known to have been used sparingly in the Heian period (794 - 1185) but was only really introduced to samurai armour during the Nanbokucho period (Mid to late 1300's) ostensibly to fill in the gaps in armour plating. It has been noted that while other cultures had chain mail, only the Japanese used two different shaped rings and links to create their mail and had more variations than any other nation. Japanese mail also differed from European mail in the links were much smaller — European average was 9mm, while the Japanese average was 3.5mm — and the steel used much stronger.
In most instances, chain mail was mostly used on the armours’ kote sleeve, occasionally on the apron like haidate covering the thighs, and between the splints on the suneate protecting the shins. In some instances, the entire haidate were of chain mail, occasionally sode shoulder guards and in some instances, suneate shin guards too were fully made of mail. Chain mail hoods, jackets, vests, gloves and even kusari tabi footwear — often passed off as ninja armour — were also relatively common samurai garments. Incidentally, the steel plates found within chain mail are known as ikari, or rafts, while larger pieces such as those in tatami gusoku type armours are known as karuta, or playing cards. Hexagonal plates are known as kikko.
Often short jackets and patches of chain mail were worn under the armour to protect the vulnerable armpit area. There are cases where chain mail has been fitted behind the yurugi no ito, the braiding between the dou, cuirass, and the kusazuri plates hanging below it. Other parts of the armour could also be reinforced with kusari. For example, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s helmet as used at the Battle of Sekigahara features a flap of chain mail covered material hanging from the main helmet bowl between the rows of shikoro, neck guard, and the wearer.
Historically there are three major types of Japanese chain mail, and some 16 variations recorded. Often the name of the type of chain mail differs from area to area and era to era.
So Gusari
One of the most common varieties of chain mail was So-gusari being round links of wire, with four oval shaped links at right angles forming the mesh. The circular links were of a slightly thicker wire than the attached oval links. The ends of the links were simply butted together as the tensile strength of the well-tempered wire was enough to keep it in place. The sections of chain mail were always heated after forming to further strengthen it, and then lacquered to prevent it from rusting. When lacquering, the sheets of chain mail were regularly agitated and moved about to prevent sticking. The picture below shows the mail on the kote (sleeve armour) from around the elbow in an arrangement called koshi-gusari, a square like pattern to allow for easy movement.
Seiro Gusari
Of the three main types of chain mail used on samurai armor, the type known as Seiro Gusari was used for more expensive armors. Seiro Gusari featured the same single round ring of the standard So Gusari but featured the oval shaped links formed with multiple turns — averaging two turns —of wire, or in some cases, two identical thin links. The result was a slightly stronger, and a little more expensive chain mail.
Nanban Gusari
A third type of chain mail found on samurai armour is Nanban-gusari, or Southern Barbarian Mail, believed to have been introduced around 1543 by Dutch and Portuguese traders. The Japanese quickly adopted this type, seen as exotic, based on the European style of chain mail, made from four in one interlocking loops of wire. The loops were much larger than traditional Japanese mail and used a thinner wire to produce a thicker mesh of mail. The traditional European way of using this method was to set sheets of mail so that it expanded lengthways across the body, whereas the Japanese would turn it 90 degrees, so that the mail expanded longways, up and down. European chain mail rings were usually welded or riveted shut, whereas Japanese mail is butted together so the end of the rings are touching, and remain in shape due to the strength and hardness of the well-tempered metal wire itself.
The above mentioned Japanese mail types were very flexible. They were also used to make shirts and jacket like vests of mail worn under armour, or under normal street wear for protection and known as kusari katabira. In such cases, the sheets of mail were sewn onto a pre-made garment or sewn into cloth sandwiched between layers of material to make the jacket. Edo period police wore such protective garments when on duty.
Although kusari chain mail added a degree of protection against bladed weapons, on the whole, it failed to protect from concentrated blunt force trauma associated with strikes by such weapons. While a sword or other weapon may not have been able to cut through the mesh of kusari, the impact of the blade would still be able to break bones. Japanese mail continued to be in production and in use until just after the end of the Edo period, during the early days of the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) when swords were no longer carried and modern military outfits were adopted for the army and police forces. Chain mail pieces remain popular collector’s items.
