Kabuto

This Kabuto is the helmet. See: Kabuto (disambiguation)

Kabuto (兜, 冑) is a large helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by samurai. It features a strong plate of the forehead to protect the men (forehead, which is a classical target in Japanese arms), plates on the rear of the helmet to protect the neck and sometimes even the back, and a crest of the clan (mon).

Kabuto were sometimes very heavy, which explains some figures in hand-to-hand martial arts : appropriately placed, a hit under the jaw could snap the neck of an opponent (variant of tsuki).

Kabuto culture

Kabuto were a prominent and important part of the equipment of the bushi, also on the symbolic level. This explains the number of expressions, sayings and codes related to them. A few examples follow :

• Katte kabuto no o o shimeyo ("Tighten the string of the kabuto after winning the war") : don't lower your efforts after succeeding. Could be compared to Si vis pacem para bellum.
• kabuto o nugu ("to take off the kabuto") : to surrender.

Kabuto in the West

The kabuto is widely thought to be the inspiration for the helmet of Darth Vader.