【Treasures of Fukuoka】No. 14 Armor and Helmets Representing Military Exploits of Kuroda Nagamasa

Kuroda Nagamasa, the first lord of the Fukuoka Clan, is the one who established Fukuoka Castle and the castle town and founded the basis of the present-day Fukuoka city. His armor, helmets, and portrait were jointly designated as important cultural assets of Japan. They are the following four articles. Please have a look.

①銀箔押一の谷形兜・黒糸威五枚胴具足（ぎんぱくおしいちのたになりかぶと・くろいとおどしごまいどうぐそく）

②黒漆塗桃形大水牛脇立兜（こくしつぬりももなりおおすいぎゅうわきだてかぶと）

③黒漆塗桃形大水牛脇立兜（こくしつぬりももなりおおすいぎゅうわきだてかぶと）

④黒田長政像（くろだながまさぞう）

You may find them familiar, that’s no wonder. All of them belong to the Fukuoka City Museum collections and we exhibit them on various occasions. When we call them important cultural property, you would think that the designation was given to all individual items.

The fact is, the main object of the designation is ① 銀箔押一の谷形兜・黒糸威五枚胴具足（ぎんぱくおしいちのたになりかぶと・くろいとおどしごまいどうぐそく）, and other objects are basically evidencing the value of the main article. Those supporting articles are equal to the main article in value and should be treated with the same degree of care. In this exhibition, we will exhibit them all in the same showcase to clearly show the connection between those articles.

In this article, I’d like to mainly talk about ①銀箔押一の谷形兜. According to Kuroda Jyuho Kojitsu (Studies on Important Treasures of the Kuroda Family), the helmet of this type was originally a signature item of Fukushima Masanori. The copy of the same helmet was given to Kuroda Nagamasa as a token of Fukushima’s Friendship when they were reunited after fighting. It was during the postwar period after the Korean Invasion. In exchange, Nagamasa gave him a copy of his signature helmet, Oosuigyu Wakidate Kabuto.

The attention-grabbing, uniquely shaped helmet is said to have been modeled after the legendary cliff called Ichino-tani. Legend said that Minamotono Yoshitsune, a famous samurai warrior in the Heian period, galloped down this steep cliff in the GenpeiBattle.

The helmet is often photographed from the front and the image doesn’t convey the steepness of the cliff much. So, I’d like to show you the side view of the helmet today.

It doesn’t even look like a cliff; it is more like a wall! Rock climbers would be able to climb it, but a horse would find it difficult to gallop down. It reminds me of a big wave, depicted in The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai.

Aside from that, the helmet is much worth the designation as it symbolizes the military exploits of Nagamasa and the history of the Kuroda family. The helmet was said to have been worn by Nagamasa in the battle of Sekigahara (September 1600) and he is wearing the helmet in his portrait (Fig.4), which is said to have portrayed his appearance in the battle of Sekigahara.

Lastly, I’d like to show you the rare rear view of the helmet. It looks chic, don’t you think?