What Makes Samurai Armour So Special?

In the 16th century world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we meet the samurai as they had to be: soldiers in a world on fire. But today, we’re looking at the samurai as they wanted to be seen. In this special episode, Matt Lewis joins Dr Rosina Buckland, Curator of the Japanese Collections at the British Museum, to examine a 500-year-old puzzle: this suit of samurai armour. It has been passed down through generations as a single suit: in reality, it’s a 'Greatest Hits' of samurai history - while the helmet dates back to the era of Oda Nobunaga and the battles we see in the game, other parts of this suit were forged centuries later. Through this suit, we'll find out what it really meant to be a samurai, and how the warriors of the past wrote the story we’re still playing today.Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this interview on the Assassin's Creed YouTube channel and listen to our series about the real samurai and shinobi (ninja) of Sengoku Japan.Hosted by: Matt LewisEdited by: Blu Posner, Robin McConnellProduced by: Robin McConnell, Peta StamperSenior Producer: Anne-Marie LuffProduction Manager: Beth DonaldsonExecutive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen BennettMusic by The FlightIf you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 16, 2026

What this episode covers

In the 16th century world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we meet the samurai as they had to be: soldiers in a world on fire. But today, we’re looking at the samurai as they wanted to be seen. In this special episode, Matt Lewis joins Dr Rosina Buckland, Curator of the Japanese Collections at the British Museum, to examine a 500-year-old puzzle: this suit of samurai armour. It has been passed down through generations as a single suit: in reality, it’s a 'Greatest Hits' of samurai history - while the helmet dates back to the era of Oda Nobunaga and the battles we see in the game, other parts of this suit were forged centuries later. Through this suit, we'll find out what it really meant to be a samurai, and how the warriors of the past wrote the story we’re still playing today.Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this interview on the Assassin's Creed YouTube channel and listen to our series about the real samurai and shinobi (ninja) of Sengoku Japan.Hosted by: Matt LewisEdited by: Blu Posner, Robin McConnellProduced by: Robin McConnell, Peta StamperSenior Producer: Anne-Marie LuffProduction Manager: Beth DonaldsonExecutive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen BennettMusic by The FlightIf you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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