Message from cwatson

[Anonymous]

I visited the "Samurai Art" exhibit at the Bowers Museum on Sunday, May 24, 2009.
Although the term "art" is not a word that I would normally use to describe
any part of the Samurai uniform, the compelling displays revealed otherwise.

The Samurai Art exhibit covered the highlights and evolution of the Samurai
war regalia from: Nanbockuche (1336-1386), Edo (18th century), Muromachi
period (Onin War), Kamakura, and Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. Thus,
the exhibit showed military equipage to showcase Samurai life as a whole.

One particular garment that was of interest to me was the "kosode"
which was worn by all societal classes albeit with varied levels
of construction and adornment during the Muromachi period (Onin War).

By contrast, the "kosode" in the the Kamakura period was when the change
of power shifted from the nobles to the Samurai political elites.

Then, in the Edo period of the 18th century the "kosode" was used
as an elaborate undergarment for the Heinan court nobles.

Although clothing and battle armor were the main features of this collection,
what would a Samurai be without his sword and his sword mount?
Sword mounting and the sword which is placed upon it are just as ceremonial
as their attire. Eventually, sword mounting became more elaborate throughout the
history of Japan.
The process by which the sword was quenched (i.e., immerse the hot object
in cold water) apparently gave it a quality of being: "hard to break, hard to bend,
and cuts well."

I can use this in the class room by comparing the "kosode" to various levels
of clothing that one can buy. For instance, I would ask students,
"How does clothing reveal status?" Their answers will vary, but the overall
theme would be for them to understand that what you wear reveals
how much money you have (i.e., status) or your political or social position.

My method of using Samurai clothing to relay the life of the Samurai, is
a simplistic way of teaching what could be a somewhat complicated subject
for students.