Jinmaku (陣幕) is a curtain used in setting up a militaryencampment commonly seen from the pre-modern era in Japan. The jinmaku were also historically known as agunmaku (軍幕), or "military curtain".

Jinmaku literally means "camp curtain". In theJapanese the word is formed from twokanji. The first,陣, means "military camp" and the second,幕 means "curtain".

In ancient Japan jinmaku were tied to poles and stretched around field encampments to form a defensivebarrier. References to its use as early in theNara period (710–794) are found in theKonjaku Monogatarishū, aJapanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the lateHeian period (794–1185). Soldiers in the Konjaku Monogatarishū slept in an area surrounded by jinmaku to provide protection while sleeping.^[1] Jinmaku were typically constructed ofhempcloth.^[2] Illustrations on theMongol invasion in theZenkunen kassen emaki depict the appearance ofclanmon emblems on jinmaku in the 13th century. The style and construction of jinmaku were standardized in theMuromachi period (1336–1573).

TheHonchō Gunki Kō (Thoughts on Japanese Military Equipment), a military manual written in 1709^[3] byArai Hakuseki (1657–1725), lays out standard measurements for jinmaku. Arai, an advisor to theshōgunTokugawa Ienobu, recorded that a jinmaku should be 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and 8.4 m (28 ft) wide. The number ofmakukuji (幕串), or poles for hanging the jinmaku, was set at 10 for ataishoofficer and 8 for othersoldiers,tethers only in white, black, or blue, andmon clan emblems placed in between three, five, or seven places.^[4] In the Edo period military science became popular amongsamurai and gave religious meaning to jinmaku as a sacred item.

Jinmaku are used infestivals and theaters, especially for open-air performances. Traditionally the jinmaku is thought to have the power to drive evil away from the stage.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJinmaku (military curtain).

Jinmaku can be constructed for recreational orhistorical reenactment using modern materials. The following sites include basic directions.

• The Shogun Tent GuideArchived 2009-03-28 at theWayback Machine
• Jinmaku at Currentmiddleages
• Nihon Zatsuroku: An Online Japanese Miscellany

• Architecture in Japan
• Partitions in traditional Japanese architecture
• Portable furniture

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
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