Horo (cloak)

Oikago, the framework of a horo.

A samurai wearing the horo, a garment used as a defense against arrows.

A horo, opened up flat.

Statue of Maeda Toshiie with a horo. Oyama Shrine (Ishikawa)

A horo (母衣) was a type of cloak or garment attached to the back of the armour worn by samurai on the battlefields of feudal Japan.

Description

A horo was around 1.8 m (6 ft) long and made from several strips of cloth sewn together with a fringe on the top and bottom edges. The cloth strips were sewn together and formed into a sort of bag which would fill with air like a balloon when the wearer was riding a horse.^[1] A light framework of wicker, bamboo or whale bone known as an oikago, similar to a crinoline, which is said to have been invented by Hatakeyama Masanaga during the Ōnin War (1467–1477),^[2] was sometimes used to keep the horo expanded. Attaching the horo generally involved a combination of fastening cords and possibly a staff. The top cords were attached to either the helmet or cuirass of the wearer while the bottom cords were attached to the waist.^[3] The family emblem (mon) of the wearer was marked on the horo.^[1]

Use

Horo were used as far back as the Kamakura period (1185–1333).^[4] When inflated the horo was said to protect the wearer from arrows shot from the side and from behind.^[5][6][1] Wearing a horo is also said to have marked the wearer as a messenger (tsukai-ban) or person of importance.^[7] According to the Hosokawa Yusai Oboegaki, the diary of Hosokawa Yusai (1534–1610) taking of an elite tsukai-ban messenger's head was a worthy prize. "When taking the head of a horo warrior, wrap it in the silk of the horo. In the case of an ordinary warrior, wrap it in the silk of the sashimono".^[8]

References

1. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275–279
2. Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan, Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 p.221
3. The samurai: warriors of medieval Japan, 940–1600, Anthony J. Bryant, Angus McBride, Osprey Publishing, 1989 p.63
4. Arms and armor of the samurai: the history of weaponry in ancient Japan, Ian Bottomley, Anthony Hopson, Crescent Books, 1993 p.59
5. The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 15, Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919 p.744
6. The grey goose wing, Ernest Gerald Heath, New York Graphic Society, 1972 p.224
7. Samurai Commanders (2): 1577–1638, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing, 2005 p.24
8. Samurai: The Code of the Warrior, Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 p.181

External links

• Media related to Horo at Wikimedia Commons