Kabuto

This Kabuto is about the helmet. For other meanings, see Kabuto (disambiguation).

Ornate kabuto from the Glenbow Museum collection

Kabuto (兜, 冑) is a large helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by samurai. It features a strong plate in front to protect the men (forehead, a common target in Japanese arms), plates on the rear of the helmet to protect the neck and sometimes even the back, and a crest of the clan (mon).

A Kabuto helmet was often molded from leather, then layered with metal plates that would flare out near the neck, providing a scoop-like shape.

They are used on the battlefield not only to protect the body but also to show off one's power and status. For this reason, many different types of showy conspicuous armour were produced especially during the Heian and Kamakura era, 794-1333.

Kabuto were sometimes very heavy, which explains some figures in hand-to-hand martial arts: appropriately placed, a hit under the jaw could snap the neck of an opponent (variant of tsuki).

Kabuto culture

Kabuto were a prominent and important part of the equipment of the bushi, and played a symbolic role, as well. This explains the number of expressions, sayings and codes related to them. A few examples follow:

• Katte kabuto no o o shimeyo ("Tighten the string of the kabuto after winning the war"): don't lower your efforts after succeeding. Could be compared to not to rest on one's laurels.
• kabuto o nugu ("to take off the kabuto"): to surrender.

Nowadays, smaller-sized Yoroi and Kabuto are bought and kept by Japanese people as a personal interior collection or a seasonal home decoration item displayed during the Boys' Festival/May 5 for expressing the hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong.

Kabuto in the Starkiller movie

The kabuto is the inspiration for the helmet of Darth Vader. Vader’s helmet, armour and robe is highly reminiscent of samurai armour. The helmet is taken directly from the mempo mask and Kabuto helmet of a feudal samurai. Vader also wore an under-robe of black that resembled long, flared out pants, called hakama, a garment worn in feudal Japan. Warriors often wore wide-cut pants that grazed the floor, hiding the movements of their feet from the enemy, thereby preventing the opponent from judging your next move in a sword fight by seeing the placement of your feet.