A
stirrup in
Japan. The very early
Japanese stirrups had hooded
toes and quite long
iron straps for the stirrup
leathers. Some had long footplates, like the later ones, of which some were perforated to let out water picked up when crossing rivers. These were called
suiba abumi,
literally “crossing a
river on
horseback stirrups.”
The later stirrups differed from all others in having no sides. In
rare cases there is a
rod from the
upper end of the front to the footplate near the heel; this prevents the foot from slipping out
sideways. The root plate is large enough for the entire foot to
rest on, and
curves lip and back at the front so as to bring the loop for the stirrup leather over the
instep. They
arc usually made entirely of iron, but sometimes have iron frames filled in with
wood. Occasionally they have perforated footplates.