Short shell - Tankou

A type of armor. It is a protective gear that covers the upper part of the waist, the chest in front, and the shoulders in the back. It meets in the center at the front, and is supported by tying cloth attached to the front and back over the shoulders. In Japan, the oldest tanko to date are wooden lacquered tanko from the late Yayoi period. Even in the Kofun period, there are tanko made of leather or vegetable fibers and coated with lacquer. However, most of the tanko that remain today are made of iron, with the exception of rare examples with gilt bronze decoration, and some are known to have been coated with black lacquer. The shape of the iron plates that make up the main part of the tanko changed from rectangular or triangular to wide, horizontal iron plates. Also, the iron plates were originally fastened with leather strings, but from the mid-5th century onwards, they began to be fastened with iron rivets. In addition to the helmet, the tanko armor also had accessories such as neck armor, shoulder armor, gauntlets, sash guards, and shin guards, and was primarily used by infantry. It has been excavated from burial mounds dating back to the 4th century, but was popular in the 5th century, and was replaced by keikou armor from the 6th century onwards. There are some Haniwa clay figures and stone replicas that are modeled after tanko armor, but there are few examples of warrior Haniwa figures wearing tanko armor.

[Kenichi Kobayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鎧(よろい)の一種。腰の上部から上、前は胸まで、後ろは肩までを覆う防御具で、前の中央であわせ、前後に取り付けた布などを肩の上で結んで支える。日本では現在のところ、弥生(やよい)時代後期の木製漆塗(うるしぬり)短甲がもっとも古い。古墳時代にも、革や植物繊維を素材とし、それに漆を塗った短甲がある。しかし、現存する短甲は、まれに金銅装(こんどうそう)の例がみられるほかは、ほとんどが鉄製で、なかには黒漆を塗っていたことがわかるものもある。短甲の主要部を構成する鉄板の形は、長方形、三角形などから幅の広い横長の鉄板へと変化する。また、鉄板をつなぐにあたり、初めは革紐(かわひも)でとじていたが、5世紀中葉以降には鉄鋲(てつびょう)で留めるようになる。短甲は、冑(かぶと)のほかに、付属具として、頸鎧(あかべよろい)、肩鎧、籠手(こて)、草摺(くさずり)、臑当(すねあて)などがあり、主として歩兵用の武具であった。4世紀代の古墳からも出土するが、盛行するのは5世紀代で、6世紀以降は挂甲(けいこう)にとってかわられた。なお、埴輪(はにわ)や石製模造品などに短甲をかたどったものがあるが、武人埴輪で、短甲を着装している例は少ない。

［小林謙一］

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