Menpō (面頬), red leather, part of the classical Japanese armour series. Hand stitched, photography by Burke Photography.

The term “men yoroi” (面鎧) literally means “face armour” and it usually refers exclusively to various types of facial armour that were worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. The most familiar form of men yoroi is the half-mask face guard, the menpō (面頬), which covers the nose, cheeks, jaw, and chin. Most were made with removable nasal sections, allowing them to be turned into makeshift hanpō (半頬), literally “half cheek”.