NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis is a complete antique samurai armor suit from the mid-Edo period, certified as Tokubetsu Kichō Shiryō by the Japanese Armor and Arms Research and Preservation Society. It features a sixty-two-plate iron helmet signed by Saotome Iechika and an iron cuirass with a hatomune profile. The armor includes an expressive iron face mask, indigo-laced shoulder guards, armored sleeves, thigh defenses, and shin guards, all complemented by gilt copper fittings and a three-facing butterflies crest motif.
NihontoWatchOffered by Samurai Store
Tosei-gusoku · Hatomune-dō
Full gusoku (complete suit)
62-plate · Suji-bachi
Saotome
Saotome Iechika
Signed · On the kabuto bowl
Kebiki-odoshi · Kon (dark blue)
three facing butterflies
Edo
Tokubetsu Kichō Shiryō · Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai
Especially valuable armour of notably superior workmanship and condition, the third of the five ranks.
Japanese armour is not certified by the NBTHK. The Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai (the Association for the Research and Preservation of Japanese Helmets and Armour), founded in 1961, is the principal body for armour. Its shinsa grades a piece as 資料 (shiryō, "reference material") across five ascending ranks: Hozon, Kichō, Tokubetsu Kichō, Kōshū Tokubetsu Kichō, and the highest, Jūyō Bunka Shiryō. The 資料 framing reflects the society’s purpose of preserving armour as cultural and historical reference, distinct from the NBTHK’s sword paper tiers.
Returns accepted only for errors/damage: damaged or incorrect items reported by email within 10 calendar days; defective goods within 30 calendar days.
¥2,700,000