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

Description

Horo were around 6 feet long and were made from several strips of cloth sewn together with fringe on the top and bottom edges. The cloth strips when sewn together and formed into a sort of bag which would fill with air like a ballon when the wearer was riding a horse. A light framework of wicker, bamboo or whale bone known as an oikago, which is said to have been invented by Hate Kayama Masanaga during the Onin War (1467-1477), 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 (kabuto) or chest armor (dou (dō)) of the wearer while the bottom cords were attached to the waist.The family crest of the wearer was marked on the horo.

Use

Horo were used as far back as the Kamakura period 1185–1333.When inflated the horo was said to protect the wearer from arrows shot from the side and from behind. Wearing a horo is also said to have marked the wearer of the horo as a messenger tsukai-ban or person of importance. According to the Hosokawa Yusai Oboegaki (The Diary of Hosokawa Yusai)1534-1610) the taking of an elite horo wearing tsukai-ban messengers 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".

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. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275-279
5. Arms and armor of the samurai: the history of weaponry in ancient Japan, Ian Bottomley, Anthony Hopson, Crescent Books, 1993 p.59
6. The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 15, Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919 p.744
7. The grey goose wing, Ernest Gerald Heath, New York Graphic Society, 1972 p.224
8. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, The Society, 1881 p.275-279
9. Samurai Commanders (2): 1577-1638, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing, 2005 p.24
10. Samurai: The Code of the Warrior, Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 p.181

• Military Communication of Feudal Japan
• Japanese heraldry
• Samurai weapons and equipment