This helmet may look cool, but surely you wouldn't want to wear this into battle!

Imagine you are a samurai and are heading off to war. What kind of armor would you choose to don? Believe it or not, samurai warriors were very fashionable.  They were always wearing fancy armor and sometimes looked like Lady Gaga (in my personal opinion).  I wonder which one I would wear to the battle field. I’m still deciding which one is the best, but I've already decided the worst. 

This is the one!

I've only been working for the museum for a month, and I feel that I still don't know much about the armor, but this is definitely the worst at this moment. I'm not saying that this is the worst looking helmet by all means. This is one of the greatest looking helmets I've ever seen. Your eyes will be drawn to this great, enormous war helmet as soon as you enter the exhibition room and I'm sure you'll find it pretty cool. What makes this helmet the worst for me then? Let me explain.

Kazunari Kuroda, the former owner of the helmet actually wore this war helmet on the battlefield. It made him an easy target at which his enemies could aim their canons, arrows and any other possible weapons. Who can blame them?

Durring the warring period, samurai warriors would often wear these sort of eye catching garments to show how brave they were. I would rather be dressed like a ninja and hide somewhere!

Kazunari Kuroda was a brave samurai. At the same time, he was a very gentle person who loved his horses.

You can learn more about Kazunari at our feature exhibition room until 6/5! Don't miss it!

posted by Takamura (Press offficer)