Warfare (continued)

II. Armor

 

. . .

Left: Armor (Smithsonian collection) 16th century

Right: Odoshi no Domaru with Black Leather Shoulder Covers and Helmet - Muromachi Period (15th century) (Tokyo National Museum)

 

 

 

Samurai Armor

Japanese armor is both strong and flexible. It is made of small pieces of iron which are sewn together with strong silk threads. Parts were made of leather. This style allows the samurai much movement and protection.

The samurai also wore a face place made of iron and a helmet. The designs of these were fierce-looking to scare away the enemy.

The helmet was kept sweet smelling with incense in case the samurai's head may be cut off!

 

 

A Woman Warrior - Tomoe Gozen

Tomoe Gozen is an example of a true woman warrior in medieval Japanese history. While countless other women were at times forced to take up arms in defense of their homes, Tomoe seems to have been a true warrior. She was married to a warlord who rose against the Taira Clan. In 1584 his army took Kyoto after winning the Battle of Kurikawa. Fearing his power, another warlord, Minamoto Yoritomo, attacked him. Husband and wife faced the Yoritomo's warriors at Awazu. A desperate fight followed in which Tomoe took a least one head.

The Tale of the Heike says this of Tomoe:

"Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a might bow; and she preformed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors."

(Tale of the Heike, translated by McCullough, pg. 291)

Some have written that Tomoe died in battle with her husband. Others say she rushed a Minamoto warrior named Onda no Hachiro Moroshige, cut his head off, and then fled for the eastern provinces. Still others say that she survived and became a Buddhist nun. [Abridged from Famous Women of Japanese History]

 
 
 

Philosophy of the Samurai - Bushido, The Way of the Warrior

The philosophy (or way of thinking) of the samurai was influenced by both Zen Buddhism and neo-Confucianism, which started in China. Confucianism is not a religion, but a philosophy of personal behavior. It has a set of ethics based on loyalty, obligations, and relationships: parent to child, friend to friend, husband to wife, student to teacher, citizen to government leaders, samurai to lord, etc. For more information on how Confucianism influenced samurai behavior, see a difficult to read, but interesting article called "Tokugawa Neo-Confucianism" at http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/TOKJAPAN/NEO.HTM
Excerpt from above: "Perhaps the most important cultural application of Confucianism in Japan was the invention of bushido or "the way of the warrior." Now the samurai class was a rough and illiterate class in medieval Japan; their job was simply to fight. But Tokugawa Japan (after 1603) was a period of domestic peace, so the samurai class found themselves with little to do. In addition, the Tokugawa regime, in an effort to guarantee peace, rigidly enforced class distinctions and made the samurai class an important class in this system. The purpose was to prevent the large-scale arming of commoners by individual lords trying to raise an army; if you make the warrior class an exclusive class with certain privileges (only the warrior class could bear arms) and if you don't allow entrance by non-warriors into that class, you can keep territorial armies at a reasonable size. These two developments - the creation of warriors as an exclusive and privileged class and the lack of any productive labor for these warriors to do - led to a redefinition of the samurai: their purpose, their character, and their ethical standards. The purpose of the samurai class is to serve as a model for the rest of society; it is not enough to understand moral behavior, one must put it into action to be truly moral. The samurai would serve as a model of cultural, moral, and intellectual development; in particular, the samurai would exemplify a devotion to duties and unswerving loyalty. The moral life of the samurai would center around the obligations he has willingly agreed to meet for his lord; his life would be one of temperance, self-sacrifice, high discipline, and fearlessness, particularly fearlessness in the face of death. In addition to these qualities, the samurai would cultivate intellectual, cultural, and political arts; the new role for the samurai was to assume political and intellectual leadership."
 
 
 

III. Castles

 

 

 

 

IV. Samurai Warriors in Art and Literature