Ashigaru

Ashigaru.

The ashigaru (足軽 , ''ashigaru''^? "light-footed") were militia foot soldiers in medieval Japan. During the Muromachi period these soldiers were hired by the shōgun as their personal army.

Origins

During the period of the Nanbokucho wars (1336-1392) a style of warfare was developed to defend mountainous areas, defended primarily by large groups of archers, in this period it is the first time that the term is used shashu no ashigaru (ashigaru shooter). But a century later in the period of the Ōnin wars the term ashigaru completely changes its meaning. This period is characterized by a cruel power struggle, accompanied by looting and burning in the areas around Kyoto. The term ashigaru is then used to define for the first time a type of soldier who does not have armor, footwear or even weapons, until he gets them through looting against his enemy. It was very easy for this type of men to find a daimyō in need of soldiers who offered the opportunity to fight, loot and ultimately desert.

Originally the ashigaru were recruited without pay, allowed to loot after battle or take what they needed from conquered lands. Most of the armies of the daimyō had mostly these peasant-soldiers who spent most of their time tending their crops. The troops from the island of Shikoku were reputed to have their yari pinned to their sides when harvesting in the rice fields, ready to be used at their Lord's call.

This ability to temporarily recruit soldiers for one time and farmers for another was something very common in the Sengoku era and it was a very difficult task for the daimyō of each province to know how to maintain a balance between each of the functions, economic and war.

In 1570 a change began to take place in the way of making war in Japan, this was due to the introduction of new weapons. The first would occur in the longest spears that would reach the same dimensions as the pikes in Europe and the introduction of the tanegashima. Both weapons could not be used skilfully nor would they have the desired effect on part-time soldiers who were used to engaging in quick campaigns for a short period. The daimyō recognized the need for training but not all had the great resources to support full-time soldiers. A good example of a daimyō who managed to establish this method was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi's father had served as an ashigaru in the armies of Oda Nobuhide father of Oda Nobunaga, until he was wounded in battle and had to return to farming.

Ashigaru Armor

Different types of Yari.

Many ashigaru soldiers wore standard armor and weapons provided by the clan (the ashigaru had to make a sword themselves). To give them a shiny appearance iron cuirasses were often worn and the heraldic mon of the clan was painted on the chest and back of the cuirass. Far from being a cheap construction for samurai armor, ashigaru armor was nevertheless a good choice between protection and mobility and much better than the peasant equivalent in a European army in the case. to provide it. The ashigaru helmets were almost always the jingasa, a kind of conical helmet that, when not in battle, could serve as a rice bowl.

Weapons

The weapons of an ashigaru varied greatly depending on who they served. The clans provided the ashigaru with a yari, armor and before the introduction of the tanegashima, the yumi, (they obtained the sword). The yari, with the arrival of the Portuguese, was gradually replaced by the tanegashima (which could easily be used by someone inexperienced).

Yari

Like all Japanese weapons, the yari was made by hand. The shaft of the yari was usually made of oak, surrounded by a bamboo plywood and all covered with a waterproof lacquer. A very sharp blade completed the spear. At first the yari measured 3 to 4 meters in length, but well into the Sengoku period, it became longer as the daimyō experienced its tactical utility.

The daimyō came to consider it a weapon of great offensive-defensive value. It was theorized that enemy warriors could not engage in hand-to-hand combat after passing a row of sharp blades at the end of a long spear. The different clans also homogenized the lengths of their yari; for example, those used by the Oda clan spearmen exceeded five meters, in part due to their use as protection against troops armed with arquebuses, who needed a partner to keep the enemy at bay while they reloaded.

The Tanegashima

Japanese arks of the Edo Age.

The tanegashima is about as simple as any firearm. The gunpowder, the wad and the bullet are pressed into the barrel, the stove is primed and a slow lit fuse makes the weapon fire. Unlike early revolvers, however, the fuse is attached to the pistol and is set by a simple trigger. It does not have any flint stone or other explosion mechanism that can be damaged. What could happen is that the arquebus would explode in the soldier's face or that the gunpowder would become damp, turning the weapon into a very expensive club. Once introduced to the use of the tanegashima, the samurai recognized its usefulness almost immediately. After 1542 it did not take long for craftsmen to make them.

Many samurai carried the tanegashima into battle and used it to fire (with more or less success, given the inherent inaccuracy of any smoothbore weapon) at important enemies. However, it never became the primary weapon of a true samurai, because the sword was still there. As a weapon for the wealthy samurai of the time, it would never be truly effective. More than anything else, it was usually good for a single shot because you couldn't normally reload it on the battlefield, even if the retainers were willing to help.

The weapon's true utility was felt by the ashigaru ranks en masse. When firing as a single group or raining down, the larger units got over the fact that the arquebus, as a first firearm, was wildly inaccurate. It was more by luck than deliberate action if an arquebusier hit a man 50 meters away. Beyond 100 meters, anyone hit by a tanegashima bullet was more unlucky than intentionally shot. By firing en masse at large targets, these limitations were overcome and the weapon changed the tactics of warfare in Japan.

At the end of the Sengoku period, firearms were abandoned under the Tokugawa shogunate. The samurai became the only warriors in the world who turned their backs on gunpowder.