Samurai Dog Armor

Posted by gail in Animal, Weapons & War on February 13, 2008 at 4:54 pm


samurai

Pink Tentacle reports:


This suit of dog armor — identified by antique Japanese armor dealer Toraba.Com as the only known and certified authentic example of its kind — is believed to have been created for the pet of a wealthy, high-ranking and presumably eccentric samurai or daimyo (feudal lord) in the mid to late Edo period (mid-18th to mid-19th century).

Spencer Burns at Yachigusa Ryu wonders why this innovation didn’t occur during the fifth Tokugawa shogunate, when Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709) "prohibited the harming of dogs and ordered the establishment of dog kennels, [thus earning] the nickname of ‘dog shogun.’"


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COMMENT

8 comments to "Samurai Dog Armor"

  1. Tim
    February 13th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    Not sure if the author was implying that the sog owner was eccentric because he was protecting his dog, but dogs have been used in combat for thousands of years, and nowadays bomb sniffing dogs wear body armor just like their law enforcement handlers. I have heard that one dog was knighted in Britain for his bravery, but I haven’t bothered to verify that…

  2. gail
    February 13th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    I think he probably means it seems a little impractical for actual use in battle (especially the helmet)

  3. gail
    February 13th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    The body armor looks very much like the kevlar suits modern war dogs use, though.

  4. marieissah
    February 14th, 2008 at 2:48 am

    Poor dogs

  5. Alex
    February 14th, 2008 at 3:20 am

    So that’s where Jeff de Boer got his inspiration from!

  6. Sam
    February 14th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Akita dogs were common on the battle fields of the Fuedal period in Japan.

    They did not actually enter the battle unless the enemy lost face by retreating. The Akita dog has twice the bite pressure of a German Shephard, three times that of a Doberman.

    One prominent Damiyo kept a kennel of 1200 war dogs, each with its own handler.

    But the armor shown above would have probably been cerimonial, the helmet would have made biting impossible and the backpiece would have slowed them down.

  7. .swinedriver.
    February 14th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    Ah, and let us not forget Giger’s contribution:

    http://www.hrgiger.com/missing/WorkNo075b.jpg

  8. katelady
    February 20th, 2008 at 3:14 am

    Not good dogs. Some people on horsematch.com argued this before.


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