A Few Online Resources for the Japanese Re-Enactor:
A Few Online Resources for the Japanese Re-Enactor:
Kyoto’s Costume Museum, http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/ (English version) or http://www.iz2.or.jp/index.htm (Japanese) has good photos of life size mannequins in clothing from different historical periods and a textile gallery.
Anthony Bryant's Sengoku Daimyo, http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/ includes sections on men’s clothing, armor, names and other useful information. Also known in the SCA as Edward of Effingham and Hiraizumi Tôrokurô Tadanobu, Mr. Bryant, who has published several titles on Japanese military history for the Osprey series, is the owner of this site. I trust his expertise. Now if we could just get him to finish all those "under construction" pages?
Clan Yama Kaminari, http://www.yamakaminari.com is the home of an SCA household based in the northeastern United States. Their site includes a wealth of information on armor, archery, taiko drumming, camp accoutrements and other projects.
Kabuto Graphics, http://www.kabutographics.com features the work of Yama Kaminari's Date Saburou Yukiie. Date-dono produces exquisite SCA-legal armor, ebira (quivers) for kyudo and some marvelous graphic art with Japanese themes. Visit the Projects section for a Japanese history timeline, as well as features on Asian archery, Japanese characters you can use on your computer, and join the Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Besides, this provincial bushi from Mutsu even writes the occasional poem.
Tousando, http://rhinohide.cx/tousando/ belongs to the Outlands' Otagiri Tatsuzou. Visit Tanki Yoriaku, to discover what a properly armed samurai needs - including some links to patterns and DIY instructions for certain items. If you're puzzling over a name, you can try the random name generator using elements of period Japanese names. A young but growing bulletin board went live in September 2004 for discussions of Japanese subjects within the SCA: Tousando, the "road for Japanese in the SCA." Actually, it's more like a roadside inn where good company and conversation are never lacking. The armor board is particularly active and people have been posting some truly impressive work there. I am convinced the hospitable and erudite Otagiri-dono never actually sleeps as he's constantly recommending new resources or keeping us updated on his many projects.
Reconstructing History, http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/japanese/index.html. Kass McGann is the one who got me started. Her Japanese section deals primarily with women’s clothing of the Heian period, however, there are useful diagrams on assembling kosode and related garments, plus a full bibliography. Sorry, folks. While her historical pattern business is going great guns right now, she tells me she does not plan to sell Japanese patterns at this time.
Anneliese’s Fibers and Stuff, http://www.geocities.com/anne_liese_w/Japanese/japindex.htm overlaps much of the material on Heian women's clothing from Reconstructing History, but is noteworthy for having a menu for a Japanese feast.
Mokurai’s Temple, http://www.geocities.com/mokuraibozu/. Matsuyama Mokurai's website is of interest if you want to portray a Buddhist monk.
For ladies interested in portraying Buddhist nuns, Ki no Kotori has allowed me to host her article on Zukin (veils) at http://www.wodefordhall.com/zukin.htm
SCA-Japanese mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sca-jml/ Worth joining just to check out the links and files section which includes patterns for clothing and armor, instructions for making waraji, etc. Just promise you'll search the archives first before posting the question, "Can I use Kitsune as a name?"
Budget Bushido: http://www.gearedsteel.com/budgetbushido/index.html Armor is not my area of expertise, however, when Tosa no Togawa Masanari posted photos of his first attempt at building Japanese armor on Tousando, the members of the list were suitably impressed. When he came up with the idea of building armor kits and offering them for sale, I thought it was a terrific idea. As of February 2006, the site has only just gone live, but I predict interesting things.
Black Hydra Armories: http://www.blackhydraarmouries.com/ Kurodachi no Mykaru does beautiful SCA-legal Japanese armor, including the elusive kabuto. He even has list-legal jingasa for the low ranked fighter, starting at only $130.
Japanese names from The Academy of St. Gabriel, http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/solveig/nanori/biblio.html
The Geta Page. Instructions
on making and buying geta. Note - Part III of the construction section is
incomplete. However, if you go HERE
there's a photo intensive page in Japanese that shows how the hanao (thongs) are
attached.
http://www.egeorgeonline.com/getapage/
and http://www.karankoron.com/hanaosuge.html
