©Royal Armouries
 
 

These two Japanese armours were both made by the court armour maker Iwai Yozaemon. They were presented by the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, through his son Hidetada, to Captain John Saris of the East India Company in 1613, during trade negotiations. Saris returned home with the two armours, for King James I, and the trade agreement, but the latter was short-lived, as in 1623 Tokugawa Hidetada, now Shogun himself, expelled all foreigners (except the Dutch) from Japan. One of the armours, captioned the 'armour of the great Mogul' was put on display at the Tower in 1660. xxvia.1 al.27 11