"Samurai Battle Tactics" Topic

"A wide range of battle tactics was used by samurai over nearly 700 years of medieval and early modern history. Warrior strategies in battle were determined in part by the weapons used and the topography of the battle site or domain where the campaign was conducted. In most geographical locations feasible for battle, such as open plains, cavalry were quite effective. However, Japanese topography includes inhospitable areas where archers on foot—and later, firearm units—were better suited to battles in these mountainous, heavily forested, or rocky terrains. Further, the size and degree of specialization of troops affected the military techniques employed by officers, and these factors also varied as the warriors of Japan encountered changing political and economic circumstances.

By definition, a samurai was a professional soldier and devoted hours to preparing for warfare. Battle preparations encompassed a range of activities, including mental as well as physical exercises. Warriors were encouraged to formulate a philosophy regarding death, and most retainers incorporated aspects of contemporary Buddhist and Confucian thought into their disciplined attitude toward life, danger, and death. The legendary samurai integrity essential to the code of behavior known as Bushido (literally, "the way of the warrior) derived in part from the powerful sense of personal responsibility assumed by self-reliant medieval warriors. In medieval times, retainers first drew upon their own resources to outfit and train military units, and later became dependent upon daimyo or other higher-ranking lords for support. Samurai training thus reflected the investment of a warrior's patron or lord as well as the individual samurai's dedication to self-improvement. Generally, during the nearly 700 years of medieval and early modern Japanese history dominated by warrior culture, samurai trained in various applied skills using the tools and principles of warfare, from basic battle maneuvers to martial strategy, and also investigated the ethical foundations of warfare.
Medieval warriors were able to train with instructor-opponents only if they had aristocratic rank or high social standing. Before the Edo peace, large numbers of peasants joined the ranks of the military in the Warring States period during the 15th and 16th centuries with little or no military background. These foot soldiers, or ashigaru, required schooling in traditional samurai mental discipline as well as intensive instruction in military maneuvers. In addition to individual exercises, foot soldiers participated in regiment drills, which endeavored to transform individual soldiers into a well-coordinated unit that operated in unison on the battlefield. In the latter part of the Muromachi and into the Azuchi-Momoyama period, foot soldiers were required to practice by following a mounted general through battle formations and attack-retreat sequences before they were permitted to pick up their weapons to fight. In the Edo period, wealthy and elite samurai participated in martial arts drills focusing on stances and motions both with and without weapons. Retainers from the warrior class alone were entitled to pursue the martial arts during the Edo period. However, such activities became more a form of sport inspired by pride in military spirit rather than true combat training, as there was no arena for combat under Tokugawa rule…"

Full text here.
weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=3302

Hope you enjoy!

Amicalement
Armand

This article uses a hell of a lot of words to say very little.

From my reading (perhaps 8 books), most things written about subject,

uses a hell of a lot of words to say very little.

so this author is just joining a pre-existing crowd. I would like to start a collection for this period, but frankly I haven't a clue where to start. Normally after eight books I'm well on the road to understanding how a period 'works'.

The was a show on the Smithsonian channel about Samurai warfare/culture just recently. The only thing I gathered from that is that standard practice was: ashigaru charged at each other en masse, whilst those armed with bow and arqebus fired away; after they had engaged mounted samurai charged in exploiting gaps in the battle line (such as it was) to get to flanks and rear; followed by samurai on foot.

I thought there might be more to it than that….

Anyone has tried a what if wargame between Asian and Western Medieval Armies?
That could be very interesting!.
Who would have most chance?

Amicalement
Armand

Armand, the closest you can come historically are the Mongol Invasions of Japan (1275-1282AD). And that's when you see what happens when individual "light cavalry" sharpshooters run afoul of volley archers. Had the typhoon not demolished the Mongol fleet, things would have gone very poorly for the Japanese.

Japanese battle tactics are really so different from Western tactics it's tough to give a better answer than that. I mean, there's not really any heavy or "shock" cavalry, as samurai on horseback had several personal retainers on foot that had to keep up with the horse! Another oddity is that the ashigaru teppo-tai (conscript infantry firearms squad) had 3-4 soldiers with matchlocks and 2-3 with bows to protect the gunners while reloading.

If I'm not mistaken, there was a conflict (possibly a series of conflicts) between Wako (that supposedly had ronin in their ranks) and Spanish troops in the Philippines in the 17th century.

Killer Katanas has 24 historical samurai battle formations if you want to have an idea of samurai warfare in the age of Sengoku Jidai (1470/1600 roughly). Also known as the age of the warring states. In this period warfare had seriously changed compared to the Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281.

Also known as the age of the warring states.

I thought it translated as "Age of the country at war". Someone here will know, for sure.

Thanks for your guidance Lion… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Remember that pike and shot Japanese are very different from medieval ones.

Sengoku jidai literally means roughly "war country/state time era", so it can be translated into both age of warring states (evn though this is often used for the Chinese period with the same name) or age of the country at war.

But "war country time era" does have a certain ring to it, maybe I should start using it instead? ;)