Did the samurai ride into battle with armor and what combat would really look like?

by Jimmychui

I saw a post today about the last samurai and someone laid down some history on who it was loosely based on. It got me thinking about their gear and how they really fought. Did the samurai really fight in those really cool armors they have and how did they do combat. I know that Hollywood exaggerates on how battles were really fought. Can anyone point me in the right direction

wotan_weevil

Japanese armour was, at least well into the 17th century, generally designed to be used in battle. Much of it was indeed colourful, something easily enabled by its lamellar construction. The individual plates in Japanese lamellar armour, whether made of iron/steel or rawhide, were usually lacquered to protect them from moisture, and a variety of colours could be used. Black was common, but bright colours were also common. The other main component of lameller armour (other than the plates themselves) was the lacing, perhaps rawhide thongs or silk cord, for which many colours could be used. Colours for lacing were often chosen to contrast with and complement the colour of the plates. Some iron lamellar armour in continental Asia was polished bright, rather than being lacquered, but this was a decorative effect in its own right. Japanese lamellar armour:

had much in common with continental lamellar armour, which could also be quite colourful:

Japanese samurai armour is sometimes fancier than its continental counterpart, with elaborate helmet crests and face masks. One point to note is that for much of Japanese history, samurai were a minority on the battlefield - they were the wealthiest and best equipped (and best-armoured) soldiers. Other soldiers, especially infantry, wore simpler armour:

Outside Japan, knights and nobles, and elite cavalry, often wore highly decorated armour, sometimes with decorative crests or other ornaments:

While such armour was intended partly for display, it was also worn in battle.

As for the other part of your question, "how did they do combat", it has been discussed before, and the following replies by u/ParallelPain should be of interest:

Also, my first link above, of the Mongol invasion scrolls,

provides an excellent contemporary picture of Japanese warfare. Many other depictions of samurai in battle are from the late Edo Period, painted long after the events depicted and at a time when the artists might not have seen a battle during their lifetime, nor spoken to anybody who might have been in a major battle. Noting the relative peace of the Edo Period, many late Edo armours were made almost purely for show, with no expectation that they would be worn in battle, because no battles were expected.