Honkozane, Red Itoodoshi, Domaru Armor 本小札紅糸威胴丸（付属品とも　佐竹家伝来）

This vividly colorful set of armor, with red lacings, golden fittings, and a black lacquer base, emits an air of radiant luxury. Look closely, however, and we can also see simplicity and respect for tradition. Nonetheless, while generating a true warlike feel, the armor also presents the showiness characteristic of the Edo period. The helmet and other parts have metal fittings in the shape of a five-spoke fan. Since that is the family crest of the Satake clan, lords of the Kubota domain in Dewa province, we know that this suit of armor had been handed down in that clan. A related document also handed down tells us the armor was created in 1823. Given that date, it was probably made for Satake Yoshihiro, the tenth-generation lord of Kubota. Nonetheless, the scales that make up the cuirass, the helmet and its hoe-shaped crest, the broad sleeves, and the tassets all give this suit of armor a somewhat old-fashioned, Warring States period air; an older set of armor is likely to have been repurposed in producing it.