Armour of Murao Masayasu

An armour belonging to the Samurai Murao Masayasu (1760-1841)  正靖

Murao was A bakushin (Tokugawa retainer) serving under the Shimizu branch of the Tokugawa clan, one of the three collateral houses (gosankyo), he held the post of Ohiroshiki-yōnin—an official in charge of managing audiences and formal ceremonies.

He was also a well know author of his time under he name Yoshitaka Murao (村尾嘉陵). Murao’s most famous work is a travelogue-style journal of day trips he took from Edo to nearby rural and spiritual sites. These outings, during the Bunka–Bunsei through Tenpō eras, were moments of respite from his official duties, capturing the natural landscapes, temples, and rustic life just beyond the city.

The book was originally published under the title Edo Kinkō Walk (Edo Kinkō Wōku) in 1999 by Shogakukan, later republished as Edo-Kinkō Michishirube in the Kadansha Gakujutsu Bunko series in 2013, translated into modern Japanese by Takashi Abe with an introduction by Professor Yūko Tanaka.

By the late Edo period (1603–1868), armor had transitioned from a tool of war to a symbol of class and office. It was no longer about battlefield practicality but about visual representation of samurai authority.