Ancient Japan Research Paper

The Warriors of Ancient Japan

The warriors of ancient Japan are very widely discussed both in popular culture and by historians. The mysterious ninja and the noble samurai are commonly misconceived to be supernatural beings while the ashigaru, are basically forgotten. They all had similarities to one another as well as major differences .This paper will discuss the period they existed in (the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries), their battle tactics, and weapons, as well as some interesting facts about each. The samurai existed as warriors through the twelfth century and died out during the seventeenth century. They lived by a strict honor code up until the very end of their days. Like all the warriors discussed in this paper, they were most prevalent during the age of warring states (the fifteenth through sixteenth centuries). In the early days of the samurai, they were elite mounted archers instead of master swordsman. When it came to

The ninjas were the spies, saboteurs, and assassins of medieval Japan. "The first ninja appeared in 1330 when Homma Saburo killed Hino Kumawaka in revenge for his father." (Mooney, Carla Ninjas) "The last ninja was Yasusake Sawamura." (Mooney, Carla Ninjas) Like the samurai, the ninja were most prevalent during the age of the Warring States. Although the ninjas were rarely seen on the battlefield they could affect the outcome in other ways like assassinating a major samurai, setting fire to an army 's food supply, and cause general mayhem. When in individual combat the ninja 's battle style was very flexible and usually used the opponent 's weaknesses. The ninja 's main weapon is the well-known katana. When fleeing, a ninja could use caltrops to cause the opponent great pain. The ninja 's shuriken (Throwing star) had several uses including distraction, inflicting pain, and getting poison into the opponent. The ninja could also use the sickle and chain to knock an opponent out and finish him in one