ARMOUR: Tetsu 62 ken sugi-bachi kabuto, yukinoshita Do gusoku made by the Myochin armour maker and signed Yukinoshita MASAIYE Saku.

AGE: Late Muromachi - early Momoyama period (1596).

CONDITION: Outstanding original period state of preserve. Completely original unaltered condition,

KABUTO: A classic example of the late Muromachi period, 62 ken tetsu sugi bachi, signed Saotome IYECHIKA.

Typical of this popular form of hachi as were produced by the very best armours smith for incorporation into high quality armours at this time, the helmet still shows subtle similarities in its lines to that of the early Muromachi period akoda nari bachi, though is clearly one of the evolved post transitional period pieces typical of those produced by the Saotome school at this time. The fukigaeshi applied with the Aoi go mon of the Tokugawa.

MENGU: A classic iron men with a chain mail yodarekake. Prominent and skillfully embossed facial wrinkles and features. Full bodied moustache.

DO: A very fine an outstanding example of a truly old and very rare early example of the yukinoshita do variety of armour cuirass signed inside on the back plate Yukinoshita MASAIYE Saku.

The predecessor to the so-called sendai-do, or oshu-do, this very solid heavy iron five section cuirass was one of the new forms of armour to originate towards the end of the warring era in the second half of the 16th century, its simple, solid and extremely practical design being well suited to the battle-field needs of that time period.

A variety of go-ai do, the cuiras sis assembled from large single piece mainplates which are hinged together, with remouvable wataagami and integral plate kohire.

One of the key features of this cuiras his the convex upper lines of the do in the area of the chest muna-ita, and under-arm waki-ita plates which clearly show well defibed and prominet raised mid sections of the plates upper edges.

This is a sign of a truly early period yukinoshita do from the time period described above and feature not replicated on armours of similar designs produced during later periods.

It is a well documented fact that Date Masamune, the famous daimyo of this han called Myochin Masaiye to his fiefdom of Oshu to fabricate this style of do specifically for him and his warriors early on after the initial development of this innovative new design of cuirass constructionhad been established.

NOTE: The present state of preserve of this armour is clearly representative of this armours late-Edo period remounting and maintenance as was a common and necessary occurance with almost all armours. This is an important detail often overlooked and or misrepresented with items such as these.

HISTORICAL: This armour was clearly originally the proprety of a Daimyo of the Tokugawa family, thus explaining the overall quality.

Date Masamune

After serving Hideyoshi for a time, he was given Iwatesawa castle and the surrounding lands as his home domain. Masamune moved there in 1591, rebuilt the castle, renamed it Iwadeyama, and encouraged the growth of a town at its base. Masamune stayed at Iwadeyama for 13 years and turned the region into a major political and economic center. He and his men served with distinction in the Korean invasions under Hideyoshi and, after Hideyoshi's death, he began to support Tokugawa Ieyasu — apparently at the advice of Katakura Kojūrō.

Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded Masamune the lordship of the huge and profitable Sendai Domain, which made Masamune one of Japan’s most powerful daimyo. Tokugawa had promised Masamune a one million koku domain, but, even after substantial improvements were made, the land only produced 640,000 koku, most of which was used to feed the Edo region. In 1604, Masamune, accompanied by 52,000 vassals and their families, moved to what was then the small fishing village of Sendai. He left his fourth son, Date Muneyasu, to rule Iwadeyama. Masamune would turn Sendai into a large and prosperous city.

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Myochin MASAIYE Sendai (1596-1614) JO JO I

Masaiye originally worked in Oshu, Yukinoshita with his father Myochin Hisaiye and moved with him to Sendai where he helped with the production of yukinoshita do for the Date clan.

Saotome IYECHIKA Hitachi (late Muromachi period) JO JO I

Saotome Iyechika is ranked as a Jo Jo I smith. Considered to be "Excellent".

With only 10% of all armor smiths in the category.

Only three other smiths were ever graded higher. Iyechika worked in Hitachi during the late Muromachi period (1500-1573).