Kabuto — Samurai Helmets
The kabuto is where a suit of armor announces itself. Everything below the neck follows convention; the helmet is where the wearer got to say something. That is why it is the most collected single component in the tradition, and why more than a few collections consist of nothing else.
Our helmets are built as complete units — bowl, neck guard (shikoro), brow plate (mabizashi), and turnbacks (fukigaeshi) — in the principal historical forms:
- Suji-bachi — the ridged bowl, plates joined with raised seams. The classic profile of the late Sengoku period.
- Zunari — the "head-shaped" bowl, built from a small number of large plates. Plain, efficient, and quietly the most practical form ever produced.
- Hoshi-bachi — the studded bowl, rivets left proud as decoration. The oldest of the forms here.
- Kawari-kabuto — the "strange helmets": sculpted, extended, deliberately theatrical. Where the tradition allowed itself to be extravagant.
Every helmet ships sized and lined, and can be worn or displayed as-is. Crests are sold separately so you can change the character of a helmet without replacing it.
Sizing runs by head circumference. If you are unsure, measure just above the ears and send us the number before ordering.