Chain mail coat and gloves, 19th c Japan

Not all samurai during the Edo period (1603–1868) wore suits of armor. Some, like rōnin who were not in the employment of a lord or samurai police officials in the large cities like Edo, today’s Tokyo, wore chain mail (kusari) for protection. This is a matching set of chain mail jacket (kusari katabira) and gloves (kusari han kote). The linked chain is attached on layers of indigo dyed cloth, decorated with family crests in gold. The collar was once furnished with hexagon shaped iron plates (kikkō) that are now lost.