Honda Tadakatsu, Samurai And Antler Aficionado - Honda Tadakatsu is known as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa,” a group of generals famous throughout Japan for their military and battlefield prowess. Tadakatsu himself was regarded as one of the finest warriors in Japan at the time, reportedly never once being injured in battle.
This is especially impressive when you realize that Tadakatsu was very easy to spot on the battlefield, due to his habit of wearing a kabuto with a comically huge set of papier-mache deer antlers attached to the top of them, supposedly so that his own men, and more importantly, the enemy would always be able to find him if they wanted some. The weird part is, helmets like Tadakatsu’s weren’t actually that uncommon on the battlefields of Japan.
So-called “Kawari Kabutos” were a popular choice for samurai warriors who wished to stand out on the battlefield, and they were generally characterized by hugely impractical ornaments balanced precariously on top of them, like Tadakatsu’s antlers. Perhaps the most extreme example is this helmet belonging to an unknown samurai from the 17th or 18th century, which sports a several-foot-high metal “catfish tail,” or mohawk.
This is especially impressive when you realize that Tadakatsu was very easy to spot on the battlefield, due to his habit of wearing a kabuto with a comically huge set of papier-mache deer antlers attached to the top of them, supposedly so that his own men, and more importantly, the enemy would always be able to find him if they wanted some. The weird part is, helmets like Tadakatsu’s weren’t actually that uncommon on the battlefields of Japan.
So-called “Kawari Kabutos” were a popular choice for samurai warriors who wished to stand out on the battlefield, and they were generally characterized by hugely impractical ornaments balanced precariously on top of them, like Tadakatsu’s antlers. Perhaps the most extreme example is this helmet belonging to an unknown samurai from the 17th or 18th century, which sports a several-foot-high metal “catfish tail,” or mohawk.
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