this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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Web search is failing me for a primary source under the deluge of web/pop culture fascination with katanas, but I swear I’ve read that their primary killing tool in battle was the Yumi bow, usually fired from horseback.
Guns displaced every warrior-caste from multiple different societies; the samurai held on to power through arms control first for swords, then later guns once the colonial powers forced Japan to end its self imposed isolation.
Bows (or other projectiles) and spears ruled the battlefield in Japan and everywhere else on the planet when combat was primarily hand to hand. Sometimes there were situations where swords or maces and other close in weapons had the advantage, but in general killing someone from a distance with a weapon that could be primarily made of wood and relatively simple is just going to be the most commonky used tool of war.
Romans, known for the gladius short sword, would initially start combat with slings, javelins, and spears. They only switched to swords up close. Same for samurai.
Also, less maintenance/ material required for its creation.
A spear point with a couple of langets is something a blacksmith can knock out by the hour. Good swords take longer and are more technical to make. You break your spear shaft in training? Well tough as, but you can find a suitable replacement and remount it on campaign.
a spearhead can also be a dagger in an emergency, which is a nice extra.
The sword has always been the last option as a weapon. Like a handgun would be today. A spear would always be preferred.
Even more than that, while we think of the gladius as their iconic weapon, the only weapon that served for the entire history of the Roman military is the bronze spear, though it eventually became ceremonial.
Swords are flashy and the weapon of a noble in town, as they’re expensive, high skill, and a reasonable sidearm for relative safety. They weren’t replaced in function by the rifle, but by the pistol. This is actually quite similar to the mindset of revolvers in the American west. The primary armament of that period’s conflicts was the lever action rifle, but the revolver was better in town.
Don’t forget the Plumbata!
Nobunaga is literally the most successful of the Japanese warlords because he looted a Spanish merchant vessel and obtained guns and powder.
Then he did everything possible to get more.
This narrative that evil Europeans forced them to use guns is absurd.
It's more that guns were hard to get until the British and Americans forced Japan to open its borders. They were generally imported through the Spanish/Portuguese, or the Dutch after they established trade relations. Even after they started making their own matchlocks, I believe they were only produced in small batches due to the high percentage of impurities in Japan's iron deposits.
Fuck nanban trade ports. All my homies hate Christianity.
You’re right, that last sentence was ham fisted - I was referring to the gunboat diplomacy opening the trade free for all after decades of isolation, not colonial annexation.
I too have watched batosai the manslayer.
I've heard that as well about the bows.