This suit of dog armor -- identified by antique Japanese armor dealer Toraba.Com as the only known and certified authentic example of its kind -- is believed to have been created for the pet of a wealthy, high-ranking and presumably eccentric samurai or daimyo (feudal lord) in the mid to late Edo period (mid-18th to mid-19th century). Although the carved wooden helmet and coat of black-lacquered scale mail would have provided effective protection against enemy attack, evidence suggests the canine never wore the armor into battle. More likely, the suit served as a decorative costume for parades and other formal ceremonial occasions. The samurai dog armor now belongs to an unnamed UK museum.
[Link: Toraba.Com (cached page) via Yachigusa Ryu]
Shoovi
Hey I know! This was first prototype, legendary Japanese M.I.S.S.I.L.E. which is abbreviation of
[]Mobile Intelligent Self Sniffing Ignited Leather Equipment
Shay
Regardless of the practicality, that's pretty nifty :P ...and people thought today's dog owners were over the top with dog sweaters and costumes lol :)
[]sanjuro
That's a nice relic. Would do well in some video games.
[]Professor Stone
To think that an Akita would wear bulky armor like that is just preposterous! It does not allow for the dog to utilize it's main weapons system - it's fucking mouth!
You have to love a world where there's still no cure for cancer, but we have costumes for our fucking pets.
One giant step back for mankind...
[]Shoovi
Hahaha Professor Stone: Wise speech ;)
[]IanM
From what I was reading there was a sport where the samurai would herd a bunch of dogs into an area and shoot them, the winner having the most kills. The introduction of Buddhism saw the end of the the killing, but the sport remained with padded arrows and armor for the dogs. I'm wondering if this is one if those suits, for that particular sport.
[]lani
we r studying about samurais..... and we founs this cool site!!!
[]love lani and sonia!
we r NINJAS!
Yeahh...
In response to Prof. Stone...
[]I'm sure if curing cancer was as easy as making a dog costume,
it would have been cured by now.
Jacky
unnamed uk museume aye, as i m from the uk, i believe that museume to be most likely the Royal Armories in Leeds, they deal with armor from all over the world and i seem to remember they have quite a bit of Japanese artifacts in their collection
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