Armor, Body, Japanese, Iron Jacket

€2,250.00
Tax included

Very nice and scarce genuine WWII Japanese body armor, made up of a cloth waistcoat featuring an articulated 'armored' plastron. The latter comprises a total of 72 slightly-curved, rectangular iron plates (2mm), riveted and sewn together in horizontal bands so that every band covers the upper part of the band located underneath. Dimensions of each iron plate: about 3.5cm x 6cm (1.4in x 2.4in).

The two wide cloth strips going down from the shoulders and crossing each other in the back are to be attached to the lower part of the waistcoat thanks to a cord and three leather reinforcing strips featuring six eyelets each, in order to conform to the wearer's morphology. The whole assembly can be secured with the tightening strap.

In excellent overall condition, this unusual body armor retains its original label, on which the following markings are visible: 武運長久 (Buun Chōkyū: 'Good fortune in battle'), 新案特許出願中 (New Design Patent Pending), 木村式 (Kimura Version), 護身用鐵ジョッキー (Self Defense Use Iron Jacket). 

Probably intended for officers, this type of body armor must have provided relatively poor protection in actual combat conditions... 

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