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Ian, thanks for taking the time to drag your horse equipment out, horses were such an important part of samurai life and yet there is very little information available on the equipment. Its especially hard to find pictures of the harness equipment assembled. Have you ever thought about setting it all up on a model horse, now that would be interesting.

Henk, do you mean a gando?

Ian, you beat me to it!!!

Piers, I am looking forward to hearing about Ian's exhibit, the glossary in Japanese has some parts listed that the one in English does not, did you notice the tail bag? Even if you saw one for sale would you recognize it? I would like to find the name for the hind quarter cover, the one with the frills right behind the saddle, it covers the crupper up. I have been looking for that name for awhile.

Paul, thats a great picture, anyone want to translate? Here is a great looking saddle with harness tack from the liverpool museum. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/lady ... arness.asp Saddle and harness, Japanese, 1812 and later Lacquered and partly gilt hardwood, iron, iron inlaid with silver, painted and gilt leather, dyed hemp string, gilt paper strip, basketry, wool, linen, silk, 114cm x 87cm Accession Number 8416-8423 This sort of harness was for ceremonial use rather than for battle. An inscription on the underside of the lacquered wood saddle records that it was made for a man called Fukugimi by Bangiko Morifumi (from Ingebouri Prefecture, of Ise Province). It was later restored by Sadafumi. A separate inscription gives the date 1812, probably referring to the initial date of manufacture rather than the restoration. The large leather ‘mud-guards’ at either side of the saddle served also to protect the horse from chafing by the iron stirrups. These are inlaid with silver and of a distinctive Japanese form. The rest of the harness includes the wool bridle and iron bit, with two decorative tassels, a long wool strip and a wool crupper. This was secured to the saddle at either side and looped over the horse’s tail to prevent the saddle sliding forward. The crupper would have been largely concealed by the ‘crupper-cover’ which was placed behind the saddle. The waisted gilt leather strap is a secondary, largely decorative, rein to drape over the horse’s neck in front of the saddle. The functional reins are missing.

My contribution to objects used for lighting, the bura-chochin collapsible lantern, and a link so a nice little collection of Japanese lanterns. http://rulifson.org/andon/thumbnails.html

Piers, have you ever thought of starting your own business? Everytime you "upgrade" you could just sell the lesser items...humm...or perhaps you are the mysterious Mr. Damyou?? Nice set, I got the information about the spark stone from the link that Malcolm provided. Your spark stone and mine looks like it could be agate to me. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ ... 216wh.html

Ron, you made me go through a lot of boxes to find this hiuchigama or hiuchigane (striker) and hiuchi ishi (spark stone) which from what I read is not flint but either meno (agate) or sekiei (quartz), this one looks like agate. I was told that the striker is quite old.

Justin, even if they appeared to be the same I think there would be a word of front signifying its use as horse tack. They are quite large from what I remember, I will have to find them again. Justin, the items you pictured from samurai-gallary are really nice, the item that they call a "saddle cover" also is described as being a "Shabrack" which I believe is an European name for a saddle pad, but im not sure that either term is correct, while I do not know its name I believe it is a decorative cover worn just behind the saddle, maybe someone will know for sure. The saddle pad is called a "Kiritsuke" in the glossary. ????? Kiritsuke (saddle pad)

I still have a box of woven trim pieces that I have never taken out and photographed. I see these decorative knots on the visual glossary but no name for them, these came with the box of trim pieces.

The translation of this site is not to good but it discusses this type of bukuro. http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/pehota0 ... uro01.html

Henk, your right about the expense, thats why it has taken me so long to piece together most of the individual parts of a full ensemble, although there are some pieces I might never find. Here is another necessary part, which I have found being called a "muchi".

Piers, those prints are great, were are they from? This close up looks like the man pictured might be wearing a bukuro around his waist like the one I pictured, hard to tell though.

Thanks Piers, I have looked all over and could not find that term, I also need to find a set for a kura of mine. Here are a pair of aori I just purchased, rather plain but very thick, they look like that are made from elephant leather.

I can wait, how long is the statute of limitations? I have seen several with dates that seem quite old, I have one that is signed and dated with a date that is supposed to make it several hundred years old. Here is a saddle with an interesting theme.

Ian, sounds like a good exhibition, will it just for samurai items? I have been searching for some of these terms for quite a while. One item which I have found more than one tern for is the double leather pads right under the saddle which are called ''hadazuke'' on this chart but are called ''shita-kura'' else were. Feel free to post your own glossary, I think I would trust it more

As anyone who has tried finding the correct name for a Japanese or samurai item knows it can be hard to pin down the correct term, sometimes you can find several terms being used simultaneously. I found this site with most of the important horse related items pictured with names for the items, I do not know how accurate these names are and if anyone can comment on the accuracy of any of the items pictured please do. http://bukeyashiki1192.com/cn001/cn003/pg03.html

For we who have to rely on google or microsoft translators here is what I came up with. Thanks for all the help, very interesting. 雷除　Lightning and disposal of (or) Lightning removal “天下泰平 World peace (or) Peace reigns in the land.

Here is a link to amazon Canada $100 Canadian plus shipping. http://www.amazon.ca/Watanabe-Museum-Sa ... 0986761508

Anthony did state To that end I think that the only way to ascertain the true nature of this armor is to first look at the sellers description, if indeed this did come from the notorious Mr Damyou the lack of an accurate description is not unusual as only a very few sellers of samurai armor in the world are qualified to accurately state anything about the armor they sell. So with no statement by the seller on the originality of the parts of this suit of armor the next step is for Anthony to do a careful piece by piece comparison of each and every part of this armor and look for any differences or similarities. The color of the lacquer, the lacing, the cloth backings, the edgings, it is a process much like being a detective. Then armed with all the evidence you have to decide what you actually own. The most unusual armor would be one that has all of the parts that it was originally sold with all as in a completely matching set with all the original parts and in unrestored condition, this would be very rare. From there you have a completely matching armor with all original parts that over the years has been repaired and or restored, this would account for lacquer shades and or condition not being completely matching, certain cloth backings might be very close but not exactly matched as one piece or element may have been restored with a new cloth backing or new lacquer which might be in better condition and or a slightly different shade than the rest of the armor. The next in line would be an armor that for some reason had one or more elements replaced some were in the past during one of the renovations that many armors went through due to wear and tear. A broken, rusted, deteriorated element would have been matched and replaced by a period armor maker. These pieces while not original would have been made to look as close as possible to the original parts, with lacquer, cloth, mail and decorative elements as close to the original parts as possible. From here you have the category that most armors fall into, various parts or elements being repaired or replaced with not enough care or skill the hide the fact that the armor has been significantly changed from the original. Parts such as the suneate (shin guards) or haidate (thigh guards) etc from a completely different armor used to fill in missing parts with no attempt to make the parts match. Very current repairs that stand out against older unrestored parts, there are many variations. Then you have the armor that is just put together from completely unmatched parts with none being matched to the other. Occasionally you will find an armor that due to its value has been completely professionally restored, all new cloth, new lacquer, new lace with no traces of age and wear. Anthony's armor is nice looking and appears from what I can see to be an honest armor with probably some elements repaired or replaced over the years as opposed to one that was made to deceive the buyer. A little more careful examination will show exactly what it is.

For anyone who is interested in really learning about samurai armor I want to let you know about a new book, I know that several forum members have already purchased copies but for those that have not heard about this new book and are interested in the subject of samurai armor here is my review, anyone here who has read the book feel free to comment. Trevor Absolon, the owner of toraba.com has released the first in a series of books, this one concentrates on helmets (kabuto) and facial armor (mengu). Trevor has owned and sold more armor then anyone I know of and he has taken detailed pictures and notes on each piece. Trevor had to unique opportunity to go through the Watanabe samurai armor collection in Japan and take photographs of the helmets and facial armor that he felt represented the best of the various different types and styles of these armors in the collection, many of which have never been published before. Trevor goes into details such as the materials and construction methods, how to spot repairs and restorations, the names of each part that makes up these armors. This book is so incredibly detailed that reading it is like taking a mini course in samurai armor. I can not come close to accurately describing how informative this book really is but I wish I had been able to read it before I purchased any samurai armor as it would have saves me from making a lot of mistakes ($$$$$$$ ). The book has forewords by two of the worlds foremost experts on samurai armor (Ian Bottomley and Anthony Bryant) and the pictures are as good as it gets. Put this on your list of must have books, you will not regret it. I can name very few authors whose books in English will really help someone gain a considerable amount of knowledge on the subject, Bottomley, Turnbull, Bryant, Robinson, Sinclaire but until now no one that I know of has been able to write in detail exclusively about just samurai armor and specifically just one aspect of it as in the head gear worn by the samurai. This gives the reader a much needed detailed illustrated manual with a glossary of terms that you will be able to go back and refer to when looking at various samurai helmets and face masks for purchase or just for learning. I had a chance to see two lectures on samurai armor by Trevor at the "Return of the Samurai" exhibit in Canada last year and I got a chance to talk to him for several hours and I can assure everyone that Trevor is extremely knowledgeable and passionate on the subject of samurai armor and he wants to pass on to other people what has taken him years to learn and with this book Trevor has created a new avenue to help other people gain a deeper understanding of this complex subject. You can read some selected passages on google. http://books.google.com/books?id=8APyY3 ... e&q&f=true

It looks like Ian was correct , you can see the many lacing holes in the bottom of the leather strip and were the leather strip attaches to the menpo itself there are far fewer holes.

Grey, you have a good eye, no doubt developed from years of observing nihonto. The throat guard (yodare-kake) may have been removed for various reasons at some time, images of the back side would tell that maybe. If for instance the original menpo was damaged or replaced and the yodare-kake was removed while the menpo was switched with another or while the menpo was being repaired the leather piece you mention may be covering up some unsightly relacing were the yodare=kake was re-attached to the menpo.

Anthony, If you place your images on Photobucket or another online gallery and include a link here that would be very helpful to anyone who would like to take a close look either to learn from or to help give you a better idea of what you have there. If you are happy with what you purchased maybe you can say who you did get your armor from and since the seller did not give you a better description of the dou it would be classified as a Dangae dou or dō meaning step-changing, that is a combination of two or more other styles. The bottom part of the dou is in the okegawa style constructed with rivetted lames and the top part appears to be hon kozane or small scales, but you would have to look very closely to make sure as there kiritsuke kozane or imitation kozane that can mimic hon kozane as is specified on some other parts of the armour.

Anthony, first thing would be to tell us what the sellers description of this armor was exactly.