rouellette916 Posted January 12 Report Posted January 12 Hello all, First post here, looking for some help identifying this piece of armor (?) I recently purchased at a thrift/junk shop in the Japanese countryside. My initial thought was that it was a hitai-ate/hachigane, and the shopkeeper seemed to think it was the same (admittedly I am still learning Japanese so communication was limited, but he got the idea across that it was for the forehead and was attached to a headband). However, looking at images of other forehead protectors, I've only been able to find one similar looking one through a reverse image search. I'm by no means an expert though, so that's why I came here! So, my question is, what is it? Is it actually a piece of armor, or is it something else? It only cost me 2000 yen so if it's not the real deal it's not a huge loss haha. Any help is appreciated! 1 Quote
Gilles Posted January 12 Report Posted January 12 Hello, According to my little knowledge on that topic I can tell you that it is not a real hitai-ate/hachigane but a copy. I already saw some like that and I think that it was made in the Taisho/Showa period. Of course, it is my personal opinion. 1 Quote
rouellette916 Posted January 13 Author Report Posted January 13 12 hours ago, Gilles said: Hello, According to my little knowledge on that topic I can tell you that it is not a real hitai-ate/hachigane but a copy. I already saw some like that and I think that it was made in the Taisho/Showa period. Of course, it is my personal opinion. Interesting! I figured that might be the case. Do you have any idea what it might have been produced for? Plays or festivals or something as a costume? Or just a plain-old knock-off? If you have any images of similar examples I'd love to see. Could be fun to give it a proper headband again. Quote
rouellette916 Posted February 11 Author Report Posted February 11 An update for anyone who may be interested! I took this item to a local antique dealer I was purchasing something else from, and he identified what it is! It is indeed a piece of forehead wear, but not for a man, but a horse! He said it was probably Bakumatsu or Meiji period in origin, and that such thing would usually be seen in ceremonial settings. I should have guessed as such at first, as it is drastically oversized for a human forehead. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted February 11 Report Posted February 11 It looks quite small in the original photos. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 11 Report Posted February 11 Is it magnetic? In the pictures, it looks like copper, so probably not armour, but decoration. Quote
rouellette916 Posted February 13 Author Report Posted February 13 On 2/11/2026 at 11:43 AM, Bugyotsuji said: It looks quite small in the original photos. It's about 25cm across, not accounting for the bend in it. 1 Quote
rouellette916 Posted February 13 Author Report Posted February 13 On 2/11/2026 at 8:28 PM, ROKUJURO said: Is it magnetic? In the pictures, it looks like copper, so probably not armour, but decoration. It is not magnetic so probably copper or bronze. He indicated it was probably for ceremonial use. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 Ryan, it is certainly not bronze, but as I suspected, a soft copper alloy. As sheet metal, it was easy to work with. The decoration was either made in a press-mold or with UCHI DASHI technique. Whatsoever, an interesting item! 1 Quote
YOJIMBO Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 1 hour ago, ROKUJURO said: Whatsoever, an interesting item! high quality artistically Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 Simon, probably not, but not often seen and so possibly interesting for some collectors. Quote
rouellette916 Posted February 13 Author Report Posted February 13 1 hour ago, ROKUJURO said: Ryan, it is certainly not bronze, but as I suspected, a soft copper alloy. As sheet metal, it was easy to work with. The decoration was either made in a press-mold or with UCHI DASHI technique. Whatsoever, an interesting item! Good point! Thanks for your input! Quote
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