Weapons and Operations of War
The Bow
The bow was always the chief weapon of the fighting man in Japan. “War” and “bow and arrow” (yumi ya) are synonyms. Men spoke of Hachiman, the God of battles as yumi-ya no Hachiman; the left hand received the name of yunde or bow hand, by which it is still commonly designated, and the general term for “soldier” was “bow holder”.
The bow of Japan was six to eight feet long and the arrow measured from eleven to seventeen “fists”, that is to say from three to four feet. Some of the bows must have been very powerful. Their strength was measured by the number of men required to string them, as a “one-man power bow”, a “three-man power bow” and even a “ten-man power bow”.
Originally the weapon was of unvarnished boxwood or selkowa, but subsequently bamboo came to be employed. For precision of flight the arrow had three feathers, an eagle’s wing. The feathers were sometimes dyed and skilled archers carved their names on the shaft to enlighten their foes. The iron arrowhead took various shapes: simply pointed for penetration, or barbed, or razor forked for striking the foe in the neck and cutting off his head, a feat said to have been actually accomplished.
As a final illustration of the power of the Japanese bow, a feat may be mentioned which had more vogue from the twelfth century until recent times. In Kyoto there is a temple called the “hall of the thirty three pillar spans” (sanjusan-gen-do). On its west front is a veranda 128 yards long and 16 feet high. Evidently to shoot an arrow the whole length of this corridor where so little elevation can be given to the shaft, requires a bow of great strength, to say nothing of truth of flight. In 1686 Wada Daihachi succeeded in sending 8,133 arrows from end to end of the corridor between sunset and sunset, an average of about five shafts per minute during twenty four consecutive hours. The feat sounds incredible, but it was nearly equalled a day later.
It was custom to commence these trials of skill and endurance at sunset and to continue shooting all through the night by torchlight. Tsurota Masatoki, an archer trained by the feudal chief of Sakai, fired his first shaft at 7pm on May 19th 1852 and the last at 3pm on the 20th. During that interval of twenty hours he discharged 10,050 arrows and 5,383 flew true down the 128 yards of corridor. He discharged nine shafts per minute, approximately, and more than half of them were successful.
Dai-sho
A Japanese soldier carried at least two swords, a long and a short, or in his own language “a great and a small” (dai-sho). Sometimes he increased his number of weapons to three, four or even five before going to battle, and the array was supplemented by a dagger concealed in the bosom. Only men of military class had the right to wear two swords. A farmer or an artisan, when starting on a journey, or with special permission, might carry a short sword (waka-zashi), but any abuse of that exception involved severe punishment.
The short sword was not employed in actual combat. Its use was to cut off an enemy’s head after overthrowing him, and it also served the defeated soldier in his last resort, suicide. In general, the long sword did not measure more than three feet including the hilt, but some were five feet and some even seven, these huge weapons being specially affected by swashbucklers and vagabond soldiers. Considering that the scabbard, being fastened to the girdle had no part to play, the feat of drawing a nagatachi, as the very long sword was called, demanded special aptitude; yet there were men who achieved it in a sitting posture.
A Chinese historian, referring to the Japanese invasion of Korea at the close of the sixteenth century, says of the samurai in action that “he brandished a five foot blade with such rapidity that nothing could be seen except a white sheen of steel, the soldier himself being altogether invisible”. The unsheathing of the sword was always counted an extreme act of gravity. It signified deadly intention, and when once the blade had been exposed, to return it unused to the scabbard insulted the weapon and convicted its wearer of unsoldierlike precipitancy. Etiquette required that the long sword should be removed from the girdle before entering the apartment of a superior or a friend, but the waka-zashi remained in place.
Hoko
Spear and halberd were among the oldest weapons of the ancient Japanese as well as the sword and bow. The oldest form of spear (hoko) was derived from China. Its handle measured about six feet and its blade eight inches, the latter being sometimes leaf shaped, sometimes wave-edged like a Malay kris. At the point of junction of blade and hilt a sickle shaped horn projected on one side or on both, showing that the prime object of the weapon was to thrust back an enemy. In fact the hoko served almost exclusively for guarding palisades and gates. In the fourteenth century a true lance (yari) came into use. This too was a Chinese type.
Naginata
The halberd also came from China. The term “halberd” is a defective translation, for the Japanese nagi-nata (literally, long sword) was not a pole terminating in a battle-axe and spear-head as the English name implies. It was a scimitar-like blade, some three feet in length, fixed on a slightly longer shaft. Originally the warlike monks employed this weapon alone, but from the twelfth century, when the Minamoto and Taira clans began their long struggle, the nagi-nata found much favour among military men, its combined powers of cutting and thrusting being fully recognised. Yet it never competed seriously with the single edged katana, and it ultimately became the weapon of women and priests only. That, however, was not an unimportant role, for the priesthood wielded at one time great military power, and the wife or daughter of a samurai was always expected to prove her courage and martial capacity at any crisis in the career of her husband or father. In her hands, the nagi-nata often accomplished signal deeds, and even in the present day there are few more graceful or interesting spectacles to be seen in Japan than the manipulation of this formidable weapon by a highly trained female fencer.
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Flags were used in battle as well as on ceremonial occasions. As well as the red and white flags of the Taira and Minamoto, there were also streamers emblazoned with various legends or with figures of the sun, the moon, a dragon, a tiger, a hawk, a bear and so on. The Minamoto men often carried a flag with a design of a dove, since that bird was the messenger of their deity, the god of battle.
Fans with iron ribs were carried by commanding officers and signals to advance or retreat were given by beating metal gongs and drums and blowing conches. During the military epoch, it was considered proper that a campaign should be opened or a contest preluded by a human sacrifice to the god of war; the victim at this rite of blood (chi-matsuri) being generally a condemned criminal or prisoner.
The intention of attack was given by a “singing arrow”. Thereafter the attacking army raised a shout of “Ei! Ei!” to which the other side replied and all formalities having been satisfied, the fight commenced.
Tactics were of the crudest description and discipline can be said to have scarcely existed at all. An army consisted of small bands each under the orders of a chief who considered himself independent, and instead of subordinating his movements to a general plan, struck a blow however he pleased, thinking much more of his own reputation as a warrior than of the interests of the cause for which he fought. Some tactical formations borrowed from China were indeed familiar to the Japanese, but the intelligent use of these and their modification to suit the circumstances of the time belonged to the Ashikaga epoch and to the great generals of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Prior to that time a battle resembled a monster fencing match. Men fought as individuals, not as units of a tactical formation, and the engagement consisted of a number of personal duels, all in simultaneous progress. The disadvantages of such a mode of fighting were demonstrated for the first time when the Mongols invaded Japan in 1274. A storm saved the country on that occasion, but when the Mongols came again seven years later, they met with a different reception. Although the Mongol numbers
had dramatically increased, they never succeeded in effecting a landing. The Japanese dashed at their fleet time and time again until the Mongols huddled together and assumed the defensive. The Bushi themselves rushed the Mongol vessels in small craft time and time again to assault the enemy’s fleet. The tactics of the Japanese had undergone a complete change in the time between the two Mongol invasions. On the first occasion no attempt was made to oppose the landing of the enemy and the engagements on shore, the Japanese frittered away their strength by fighting in a disjointed fashion. On the second invasion, the Mongols, despite their artillery and catapults never set foot on land due to being held at bay by a series of continuous attacks of deadly efficiacy.
It is the only historical instance of victories resting with sword, spear and bow against gunpowder and bullet. It also illustrates the devoted courage and versatility of the Japanese Bushi. The Japanese Samurai was the best fighting unit in the Orient; probably one of the best fighting units the world has ever produced.
Taken from Samurai: The Invincible Warriors by Captain F Brinkley