Medieval Samurai Armor (Yoroi), Ashikaga Period This rare yoroi exemplifies the armor of mounted samurai. Its design features a wrapping cuirass with a side panel (waidate) and a four-sided skirt, developed between the tenth and fourteenth centuries to provide mobility and protection. Originally laced in white silk with rainbow-colored accents, it symbolized fortune and the fleeting nature of life. The breastplate depicts Fudō Myō-ō, the Buddhist deity of calm strength, embodying the warrior’s ideal of inner resolve. Tradition links this armor to Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), founder of the Ashikaga shogunate, who is said to have donated it to Shinomura Hachimangū shrine near Kyoto. From the Open Access Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain). Shown for research and educational purposes only.