Page 267 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

i6y Tôsei gusoku armor
iron, leather, lacquer, silk, wood,
gold leaf
cuirass h. 40.2 (157/8)
Edo period, mid-icth century
li Naoyoshi Collection,
Shiga Prefecture

168 Haramaki
iron, leather, lacquer, silk, gilt metal,
wood, gold leaf
cuirass h. 29.6(115/8)
Edo period, mid-icth century
li Naoyoshi Collection,
Shiga Prefecture

169 Tôsei gusoku
iron, leather, lacquer, silk, silver leaf
cuirass h. 29.7 (n3/ 4)
Edo period, iyth century
li Naoyoshi Collection,
Shiga Prefecture

These six sets of tosei gusoku, covered
with brilliant red lacquer, are among the
more than fifty that have been passed
down through successive generations of
the li family, the Edo-period daimyo of Hi-
kone, a city in present-day Shiga Prefec-
ture. Historical tradition traces the li clan
back almost one millennium, to the birth
in 1009 of its founder Tomoyasu who be-
came kami (governor) of Tótómi Province
(part of present-day Shizuoka Prefecture).
Tomoyasu took the family name li from
linoya, the li Valley, where he lived. The
similarities among the sets of li armor
from the end of the sixteenth century
onward—in color, construction, and in the
pair of tall, hornlike elements (wakidate)
projecting upward from the sides of the
helmets—reflect the tendency during the
peaceful Edo period for families to copy
the sets of armor that had served their an-
cestors in battle.
The prototype for the armor identi-
fied with the li family is said to have been
worn by li Naomasa (1561-1602), twenty-
fourth head of the li family in the ances-
tral line descending from Tomoyasu and
the first li daimyo of Hikone; cat. 164 was
owned by Naomasa. Early in his career,
Naomasa is said to have adopted from
Yamagata Masakage, a general celebrated 167
for his military prowess, the practice of
lacquering his armor red. The cuirass,
which fastens at the right side, is made
from tiers of iron sheets, each scalloped
along the top edge. Suspended from the
cuirass is a five-tiered leather kusazuri (pro-
tective skirt), divided vertically into seven
sections, beneath which is a haidate (pro-
tective apron) of chain mail, and then, to
cover the shins, suneate of chain mail and
iron splints. Typical of many sets of li ar-

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