Momonari kabuto

Momoyama period (1575-1615)

Late 16th century

A gold lacquer helmet of momonari shape with a single-plate shikoro. 

The momonari shape (peach-shaped) is inspired by European helmets, specifically designed to deflect the firearm's bullets.

This kind of helmet is well known: they were made for the campaign of Korea (1592–98) in Kyushu Island. The peculiarity of these helmets was that they did not belong to a single soldier, but they were distributed to those who needed them. The term “okashi” is used to describe those armors that belonged to the castle and were not privately owned; these golden momonari helmets are considered to be the first example of this new kind of equipment.

The Tachibana clan is certainly the most famous army to use this type of helmet, and 318 kabuto are mentioned in their inventory; as other parts of the armor are not listed, it is possible that the soldiers had their own dō (cuirass). An important role played by these "standardized" helmets was to create a sense of belonging to the army.