Turnbull, Stephen/Shumate, Johnny (Illustr.) Samurai vs Ashigaru. Japan 1543-74

Featuring full-color artwork and expert analysis, this book assesses the status and abilities of two groups of warriors who fought one another during the civil wars of Japan's Age of Warring States. During the 16th century, Japan underwent a military revolution, characterized by the deployment of large armies, the introduction of firearms, and an eventual shift towards fighting on foot. This study encapsulates these great changes through an exploration of the experience at the ground of three key battles, Uedahara (1548), Mikata ga Hara (1572), and Nagashino (1575), in which two very different types of warrior were pitted against each other. On one side were samurai, the elite aristocratic knights whose status was proclaimed by the possession and use of a horse. On the other side were the foot soldiers known as ashigaru, lower-class warriors who were initially attendants to the samurai but who joined the armies in increasing numbers, attracted by loot and glory. These two types of warrior battled for dominance across the period, changing and adapting their tactics as time went on. In this title, the development of the conflicts between samurai and ashigaru is explored across three key battles, where highly trained elite mounted samurai of the Takeda clan faced ashigaru at very different stages in their development. The profound and irreversible changes that took place as the conflicts progressed are analyzed in detail, culminating in the eventual incorporation of the ashigaru as the lowest ranks of the samurai class in within the standing army of Tokugawa Japan.

Die Samurai und die Ashigaru kämpften im Laufe der Zeit um die Dominanz auf dem Schlachtfeld, änderten und passten ihre Taktik mit der Zeit an. In diesem Titel wird die Entwicklung der Konflikte zwischen Samurai und Ashigaru anhand von Schlüsselkämpfen untersucht, in denen exzellent ausgebildete Samurai des Takeda-Clans den Ashigaru in sehr unterschiedlichen Stadien ihrer Entwicklung gegenüberstanden. Die tiefgreifenden und irreversiblen Veränderungen, die sich im Verlauf der Konflikte vollzogen haben, werden detailliert analysiert, was schließlich dazu führte, dass die Ashigaru als niedrigste Ränge der Samurai-Klasse in die stehende Armee von Tokugawa Japan aufgenommen wurden.