COUNTERSTROKE AT SOLTSY - Strategy & Tactics Press

The Age of the Samurai
The geographic isolation of Japan guarded the islands from invasion by the Mongol and
Chinese Empires, and also shielded the Japanese from the influences of the wider world. As
a consequence, Japan developed a unique political and military culture.
Ancient Japanese society was theoretically based on the Confucian ideal of a central
government ruled by an emperor. Those in the army were essentially armed civil servants,
instruments of the state. In AD 684 a law was passed that made every peasant liable for
military service in the rmperor’s army when required; however, that system broke down
in periods of protected conflict. The Gempei War of the 12 th century, essentially a feud between
powerful military families, resulted in Mimanota Yoritomo declaring himself Shogun
(supreme barbarian-fighting general). In effect, the Shogun was military dictator.
For the next several centuries, the Shogunate dominated the military and political
spheres, with the emperor reduced to a shadowy figurehead. Under the Shogunate, troops
were increasingly provided by daimyos (local nobility) from their retainers. Those retainers
became the samurai military caste. In the latter part of the 16th century, Oda Nobunaga
and Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan with the usual bloodbath. Hideyoshi would go on
to invade Korea and fight the Chinese in a pointless war. A brief civil war followed, with
Tokugawa Ieyasu finally coming out on top. By the mid-17th century, the power of the
Tokugawa Shogunate was such
that peace and unity reigned in
Japan until the coming of the
Americans in 1854.
Samurai Weapons & Tactics
“Samurai” literally means “one in service”, that
is, a soldier. The Samurai traditionally carried two swords, the long
(katana or tachi) and the short (wakizashi or tanto). Japanese blades were
constructed from multiple strips of iron and steel. The former gave the blade
flexibility, the latter its razor sharpness.
The longbow was also a samurai weapon, and much was made of the art of
skillfully drawing an arrow and firing. Interestingly, despite the length of the
weapon, the Japanese bow was short ranged. Consequently, the Japanese were
quick to take to the arquebus (an early musket) when they were introduced by
European merchants in the 16th century.
A wide array of spears and glaives, such as the naginata were also used.
The latter were frequently carried by peasant soldiers, or ashigaru. Japanese
cavalry were skilled in horse archery, though they frequently dismounted to
fight.
There is little evidence of military units such as European regiments in
samurai armies. Instead, samurai and ashigaru apparently fought as warbands
under the leadership of various daimyos.
The samurai made much of individual combat, even in pitched battle, and
the ideal was to fight the enemy’s champion. Nonetheless, skillful generals took
a more disciplined approach, and tactics such as arquebus volley fire and the
defense of field fortifications were common in Musashi’s era.
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