Samurai armour was much lighter than that of European knights. Large sheets of metal were not common and the panels were designed to absorb and diffuse shock rather than resist. I think Thomas Conlan did some work on the nature of injuries from 14th Century Samurai records, but I recall that facial injuries were common (you often see Samurai doing a bit of battlefield medicine by pulling arrows out of the eyes of comrades in scrolls) and that explains the decorative metal coverage of the face. They often included (like this one) fearsome facial hair and expressions. Another feature was the helmet: specifically designed to stand out on the battlefield so that acts of bravery would be conspicuous.
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