Samurai Weapon Graphics

35
As on every site, it also happens on “VO” that someone comes and goes, someone stops visiting the site for whatever reasons, and someone discovers it and becomes an active user. It is also clear that the materials previously published on it are becoming a thing of the past and are “aging”, including for objective reasons, one of which is the arrival of new information.

And recently, many new people began to contact me with a request to return to the topic of samurai weapons, and give it, so to speak, in retrospect.



We have already given colorful photographs of Sengoku armor. The story of a gunshot weapons it will be necessary, but as long as the court and the case, it makes sense for the story about the original weapons of medieval Japan to attract materials from the Japanese magazine Armor Modeling. The magazine, by the way, is very interesting. True, there are no drawings in it, but there are wonderful photographs of BTT models, dioramas created by Japanese and foreign modellers, descriptions of new model armored vehicles and technological work methods.

It just so happened that I started getting it ... from the 1989 year, and that's how I have been receiving all these years continuously. Rather, he began to receive the basic magazine “Model Graphics”, and then he added “Armor” to it. I learned a lot of technological methods precisely because of this magazine. Printed there and my articles on the BTT, reviews of Russian model novelties. 10% of the text is in English, so it’s quite enough to figure out what is being said.

Now here again from the room to the room is “samurai graphics” - very accurate black and white drawings of samurai and their weapons with a detailed story about what, how and where. In general, this magazine is an excellent source of information and a guide for illustrators.

So let's start with the 1 drawing.


1. In this figure, two samurai are fully armed. But at different times, that is, its genesis is evident. Both are dressed in the horseman’s classic armor - o-yoy, but only the right samurai of the Heian era (794 - 1185 gg.), And the left one - later, the Muromachi era (1333 - 1573 gg.). But not just Muromachi, but the Nambokuto era (1336 - 1292 gg.) Entering into it. Since the Japanese warriors were horse archers, it is not surprising that they did not have shields and at first there was no protection on their right hand. There was no protection for the throat, and on the top of the helmet was a hole in tehen or hachiman-dza, which was used for ventilation or to let out the end of the eboshi cap, which played the role of a comforter. Fukigaeshi - the lapels on both sides of the helmet were very large and did not allow the samurai to hit the neck or face in front of the side. They spring strongly and extinguish the blow. The armor was heavy, box-shaped and consisted of plates superimposed on top of one another. The cuirass was also lamellar, but it was always covered with silk so that a bowstring would slide on it. Shoes are heavy boots lined with bear or boar fur. The sword, tati, was suspended from the obi belt on the strings with the blade of the blade down. The size of the bow is from 1.80 to 2 meters, so you could shoot from it at a great distance and send arrows with great force. The warrior on the left wears the same armor, but both hands are already protected, a hambo face mask appeared - the option “saru bo” (“muzzle of the monkey”) and Nodova’s collar. Sikoro, an assassin, took the form of an “umbrella”, the Kuwagata “horns” appeared on the helmet (they appeared already in the Heian era, but then they were still becoming fashionable), often of enormous size. The most interesting thing on it is the "pants". In fact, these are not trousers, but a haydate shell armor, the ends of which are tied at the back on the hips. Shoes are light sandals, as many samurai at this time have to fight in the capital of Kyoto as foot soldiers. Hence the weapon - a sword-shaped blade naginata on a long pole.


2. This picture again shows the samurai of the Heian era in the armor of o-war. In the rear view, the large o-soda shoulder pads, which played the role of flexible shields, are clearly visible. They were attached to their shoulders, but the cords tied on their backs with a beautiful agemaki bow did not allow them to fall down on their chests. A very important place in the equipment of a samurai archer was a quiver - an ebirah, not at all similar to European ones. It resembled a wicker basket (or it was made of wood and varnished), in which a bunch of willow rods or reed stalks were located along the length of it. Between them, tips just down and inserted arrows. They carried such a quiver behind their backs, but so that their “basket” was right at hand. And the right hand, but not for the feathered end, but for the shaft at the tip, the samurai took out an arrow from it. The quiver was supposed to be a ring for a spare string - tsurumaki, and the string was called a tzuru. It was worn on the belt near the sword, with some aesthetes slinging a small sword Shoto, or tanto dagger, into its hole. In ashigaru - "light-footed" or peasant infantrymen, the quivers were also, but simpler - in the form of a woven shoulder box. See lower right.


3. In this figure, the varieties of the ebir quiver and a bunch of rods for attaching the tips are very clearly visible. Thanks to this fastening, the sharpest tips of Japanese arrows did not get dull! The arrow was called me. The tip is I-no-me. In the picture from top to bottom: the tip is togari-ya, kira-ha-hira-ne, hira-ne and the lowest one is watakushi. Interestingly, the bows of the samurai were asymmetrical and the lower end was shorter than the upper, which was convenient for the rider who shot from such a bow from a horse. Much in the Japanese art of kyudo shooting would be incomprehensible to Europeans, and even inaccessible to the understanding of a modern person. For example, the Japanese believed that the shooter is only an intermediary, and the shot itself takes place without his direct participation. It is carried out in four stages. The first is a greeting, the second is preparation for aiming, the third is aiming and the fourth, and last, is the launch of an arrow. It was necessary to enter into a certain rhythm of breathing and achieve peace of mind and body - dojikuri, after which he was ready to shoot - yugumae. But the hanare shot itself was fired only after the bow was raised above the head and then lowered to the aiming line. It was believed that it was not necessary to aim. Or rather, you do not need to think about the goal and feel the desire to hit it. On the contrary, it was necessary to “merge with the deity” and think about the path along which the arrow would go, and then ... it would hit the target itself! The range of an aimed shot from a saddle did not exceed 10-15 m, although it was possible to shoot from a Japanese bow at 200 m. But we are talking about an aimed shot, which could only hit a samurai in armor with an o-yoroi, hitting an unprotected place with an arrow.

The importance that was attached to archery in the past is evidenced by the fact that in historical sources called the samurai "a man armed with a bow."

The Japanese historian Mitsuo Kure reports that the most primitive bows were made from azus, me-yumi and keyaki. Their power was small, so to increase it increased the length of the bow. Even at the end of the Heian period, most of the bows were made from the listed materials.

However, even then the methods of manufacturing bows gradually improved. Scraping the rounded front surface (“back”) and gluing the bamboo stripe made the bow more flexible and powerful (fuetake-yumi). It is not surprising that the next step was to place the wooden base of the onion between the two bamboo details (sanmai-uchi-no-yumi). But the process of cultivation has just begun. Glued composite bows retained strength for only two years, so the masters strengthened them by wrapping reed or rattan with fibers (Tomaki-no-Yumi-shi sigo). The length of the bow varied from 180 to 250, see. The bow of the siget was asymmetrical, with 36 turns of the reed over the handle and 28 of turns under it, but in the subsequent period there was also an inverse relationship. Theoretically, reed or rattan onions were supposed to be varnished and not to use a white string, but in practice there were many varieties of amplification.

For greater strength and power, composite bows were made from several wooden and bamboo planks glued together (high-yumi). It is known that the range of such bows was 132 m along a flat trajectory. This distance is equal to the length of the veranda in the temple of Rengyo ogin (Sanjusangando), where every year holidays were held, the participants of which shot at targets located at the end of the veranda.

The length of the arrow was measured in the width of the "fists and fingers." The largest of the known arrows had a length of twenty-three fists and three fingers, the middle one was twelve fists, but, of course, the width of the fists was also different. There could be three or four rows of plumage. For each variety of targets, different arrowheads were intended: to pierce armor or hand shields, cut through the lacing of armor, leave ripped wounds, etc. “Whistling arrows” imported into Japan from China; they were called kabura (kaburai), that is, turnip, their tip in flight issued a whistle. Usually they were shot, announcing their intention to start a fight. In any case, the Japanese used them during the invasion of the Mongols, but they ridiculed their custom. It seemed strange to them why to shoot arrows “just like that,” when everything is already clear. It’s necessary to shoot people ... True, hitting such an arrow into an opponent’s helmet could cause a contusion, but still the arrows of the priests were used mainly for ceremonial purposes.


4. The change of methods of warfare in the Sengoku period led to a decrease in the length of the bow. The samurai led the hikes of foot archers, no longer belonging to the samurai class, and these infantrymen were more comfortable to handle with shorter bows, so their arc was shortened to 198, see. It was reinforced with five turns of reed, with an interval of one shaku (30 cm) between the turns. Ashigaru’s quivers were woven and resembled a narrow basket. The commander of archers, ashigaru (co-gashiru), did not shoot himself, but he had a special measuring cane with which he determined the distance to the enemy and gave the command at what angle to shoot arrows. He also had to help the arrows to the shooters who shot them all. But at the same time, he had to know exactly what he was shooting at the target, and not just wasting arrows. Together with the archers, servants of vacato acted, dragging boxes, in which there were at once a hundred arrows. All this allowed the archers to maintain intense shooting for a long time.


5. Japanese "throwing machines" (if you can call it the fixtures that you see in this picture). Were simple but functional. Kamnemety reminded Mongolian. They were driven by the living power of the peasants. Or even simpler - cut down a tree in front of an enemy castle, trimmed a part of the trunk to a cone - here's a “throwing machine” for you - pull it back and ... drop what you want. The Japanese used as explosive bombs with a body made of iron and a wick passing through a hollow tube with a handle and wheels as shells. On the walls of the castle hung heavy stones and platforms with a load of cobblestones. Cut the rope - here they are on top and fell down. And since they were installed in rows, one after another, it was deadly to climb in this place on the wall.


6. Only in the era of Azuti-Momoyam (1573 - 1603) the Japanese riders began to fight more with spears (you can see in the drawings bishimon jari spear dedicated to God Bisyamon), and not with bows and wearing armor (in any case, cuirass) approaching designs to the cuirass of the Europeans, although here they had their own original solutions. For example, these are one-piece forged cuffs, neo-do or nio-do, or the “torso of the buddha.” Why "buddhas" and not buddhas? The fact is that among the samurai, the Pure Land sect enjoyed great popularity, the followers of which believed that the Buddhas, that the sand grains on the river bank, and that it was enough to proclaim a prayerful appeal to Buddha Amida to be saved! At the very warrior kataragui-kirass-to or "monk's torso".


7. From all the ancient skill of horse archers in Japan to this day, the Yabusame school lived in which they teach the art of shooting a Japanese bow from a horse. For yabusame competitions, horsemen dress in traditional costumes of hunters — they wear sun hats and hides made from deer or boar skin. Quivers for arrows are used either by ebira or utsubo.

Samurai Weapon Graphics

8. In this photo from the yabusame contest, arrowheads of boars are clearly visible. Previously, they were shot at foxes. Then the foxes were replaced by dogs. Then the dogs were dressed in protective suits ... Today they refused from the dogs, replacing them with targets.


9. The rider passes the distance and must hit the target (rope) with an arrow from the tips of kira-ha-hira-ne.


10. A competitor yabusame shoots from a Japanese asymmetrical bow.
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35 comments
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  1. +1
    24 November 2018 06: 25
    I have always been interested in the question: is a rider in armor from 10-15 m trying to hit the infantry formation for a gallop, and what prevents the infantry from hitting the horse with an arrow, a dart and chopping, piercing the rider?
    1. +1
      24 November 2018 07: 30
      And there was no infantry system! Samurai on horseback fought with the same samurai and shooting a horse was like burning a bill!
      1. -2
        24 November 2018 08: 48
        How was it not? There you have the commander of the asigaru archers with a rangefinder in your hand. To kill single riders or their horses once to spit. Apparently, zapadlo is simple. I see no other reasons
        1. +2
          24 November 2018 11: 00
          Quote: Tlauicol
          How was it not? There you have the commander of the asigaru archers with a rangefinder in your hand.

          It wasn’t like that, because the estate of equestrian archer warriors (bushi) began to form in the XNUMXth century, and mass armies from light infantry (asigaru) received widespread development only with the beginning of the era of warring provinces.
          1. 0
            24 November 2018 12: 28
            but the riders did not disappear? and horse archers too request
            1. 0
              25 November 2018 02: 01
              Quote: Tlauicol
              but the riders did not disappear? and horse archers too

              The riders did not disappear, but after the emergence of mass armies based on asigaru armed with pikes, horse archers moved to the category of light auxiliary cavalry, and spears became the main weapons of horse samurai. Well, after the battle of Nagashino, firearms began to be widely used.
      2. +1
        24 November 2018 11: 25
        Quote: kalibr
        ... shooting a horse was like burning bills!
        Every year in May, Kyoto begins to buzz with excitement as the Aoy Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival), one of the three largest festivals in the city, is approaching. Despite the fact that the procession itself took place on the 15th of the month, from the first week of May various rituals and ritual preparations begin to take place, attracting thousands of visitors and believers from all over the country and from abroad.
        On May 3, one of such Yabusame Shinji preparatory events, or equestrian archery, takes place at Shimogamo Shrine. Performed by archers of the Ogasawara School, a style that traces its history for about 850 years. Archery for three targets along the way ... hi
      3. 0
        24 November 2018 18: 24
        There was a system of infantry, but the samurai preferred to kill the samurai (the more noble, the better) and bring his head with a trophy.
    2. 0
      24 November 2018 07: 46
      10-15 apparently the range of the guaranteed defeat, but in the battle still kept a greater distance.
      At all times, the horse was also protected by the riders as they could, often turned into a real tank.
      Such laminar armor holds throwing weapons well, i.e. to hit the rider you still need to get into a vulnerable place, which was also a difficult task.
      But the main advantage of cavalry (and especially horse skirmishers) is mobility, mobility is an initiative, it helps to exhaust the enemy, stretch battle formations and strike precisely when it is profitable.
  2. +3
    24 November 2018 07: 01
    Thank! Good article))
    I especially liked the "hole in the helmet for the eboshi hat, which served as a liner." This is what a country boiled in its own juice means and did not know the widespread use of the same pick. Once again I am convinced that the European protective equipment of a warrior was much more perfect. One can understand people's passion for this topic, which has been promoted in addition by many films. But it is surprising why they do not ask for such subtle details about the same weapons of Russian soldiers. Taking the same Russian bows, which were smaller in size, made it possible to shoot from a horse in different directions, and not only to the side, and in general, they were structurally close to the Mongolian type, much more perfect than the Japanese bow. It's amazing that the history of other people's armor and weapons is more fascinating than the history of national ones, since they ask for it))
    1. +4
      24 November 2018 07: 39
      We have already discussed this issue. They ask and how! But ... the source base is very narrow - the articles of the book by Medvedev, Rybakov and Kirpichnikov. And they have already been rewritten many times. Photo from the Kremlin Armory - 1200 rubles thing. Are you ready to pay back 10? In local museums, weapon rooms are locked with two locks. Again ... all the collections of local museums are based on the PRE-REVOLUTIONARY collections of patrons expropriated by the Bolsheviks. What attracted collectors? Everything is unusual, so they bought Landsknecht swords, Masai shields and Assegai darts. What could you buy ours? Only on occasion. I know a museum, where there is even a ceremonial tati with cloisonné enamel ... But ours there ... perhaps a three-line! That is, where will you direct your explorer's feet? Remains the State Historical Museum and the Armory. Where will they again pull money from you? The circle is complete! And "there" nobody asks me for money!
      1. +3
        24 November 2018 07: 48
        Alas, the country is crazy about money. That dispute with Viktor Nikolayevich when he hinted that he should contact the local DOSAAF for the science of shooting. And about what prices this DOSAAF is currently breaking in order to teach someone, V. N. forgot to remember. Money, money, money, where without them? But the Russian medieval, unlike the Japanese, covered the body completely, and not fragmentarily. Here, not only the neck but also the armpits are open to defeat))
        1. 0
          24 November 2018 11: 13
          Later, they came up with protection for the armpits ...
        2. +4
          24 November 2018 11: 19
          Dear Arkady! This is so on the one hand. On the other hand ... no money is needed - leave us alone! I know the museum where there are excellent examples of Western European wheeled muskets and pistols. I say - I will give money, let me shoot. They told me - "In the storeroom!" I told them - "Open!" They - "So you need to open it!" The salary is 5-6 thousand, there is nothing to cover the back with, but ... too lazy to move it!
        3. +1
          24 November 2018 11: 22
          This is what, in the State Historical Museum for a book in England, they wanted to give me 50 dollars per slide in due time!
    2. +2
      24 November 2018 08: 05
      First, the slander was not a mass weapon anywhere and never.
      Secondly, a missed vertical blow to the top of the head with almost any cold weapon on any helmet meant the end, or at least stunning.
      Are you talking about those same Lacking Analogs in the World of compound bows that were adopted from the steppe nomads, and they, in turn, have adopted them from someone in the Middle East?
      Japan is an exotic and developed country, hence the increased interest.
      1. 0
        24 November 2018 10: 51
        Who from whom adopted the technology of double-curved small powerful bows, I can not say. I just know that due to the living conditions in the steppe, they received the highest development among East Asian nomads. The Russians, adjacent to them, adopted a lot, including complex compound bows. Yes, but besides klevtsy there were also war hammers, hatchets with a narrow blade, and knives, with sharp spikes sticking out to the sides. And you're right, Japan is an exotic country with its military culture. They could not adopt from the Chinese neither shields nor crossbows. And here Vyacheslav Shpakovsky is apparently right. As in pre-revolutionary Russia, people are chasing exotic.
  3. +1
    24 November 2018 07: 42
    Why did not all this dominance of archer-shooters ever lead to the heyday of the shields?
    1. +1
      24 November 2018 09: 38
      Bushido. Without fear, go to the enemy, etc., etc.
    2. +1
      24 November 2018 11: 10
      Quote: Corn
      Why did not all this dominance of archer-shooters ever lead to the heyday of the shields?

      Because:
      and. the shield made it difficult to combine horse riding and archery.
      b. bushi armor was sufficient to protect against arrows.
      As soon as mass walking armies based on the ashigaru began to appear, they immediately acquired tate shields.
      1. +2
        24 November 2018 14: 16
        Te-date and bad-Ze-date (manual and for the rider) were rarely used (a., B.). The standing shields of the Tate and Date during the siege or defense used just the ashigaru. Samurai have a completely different battle philosophy and attitude towards death.
  4. +1
    24 November 2018 11: 15
    Quote: Arkady Gaidar
    no crossbows.

    Doku crossbows among the Japanese were. But they did not like them!
    1. +2
      24 November 2018 14: 31
      Europeans didn’t really like them either. Very accurate and many armor pierce. It seems even the Pope published Bula about the prohibition of this cruel weapon, which leaves no chance to the knights)) But then the issue of efficiency comes first))
      1. 0
        24 November 2018 17: 10
        Thank you, I didn’t know about the Pope. smile
      2. +4
        24 November 2018 17: 47
        In 1139, the Second Lateran Council banned the use of a crossbow in wars with Christians.
        Following this, the German king Konrad III banned the crossbow not only in his army, but in general on the territory of the kingdom. In 1215, Pope Innocent III renewed the ban with a special bull called "The deadly art of building throwing machines and using them against Catholics." True, the production of fewer crossbows did not stop because of this, since they were allowed to shoot at representatives of other religious confessions as much as they wanted.
  5. +3
    24 November 2018 15: 04
    "However, even then, the methods of making bows were gradually improved."

  6. +1
    24 November 2018 17: 36
    Samurai really liked firearms. Anyone interested can read about the samurai firearms by clicking on the link:
    https://edo-tokyo.livejournal.com/5754899.html

    PS
    As on every site, it also happens on “VO” that someone comes and goes, someone stops visiting the site for whatever reasons, and someone discovers it and becomes an active user. It is also clear that the materials previously published on it are becoming a thing of the past and are “aging”, including for objective reasons, one of which is the arrival of new information.

    Unbelievable but true. winked
    1. +2
      24 November 2018 18: 55
      "Samurai also loved firearms."
      Samurai did not like firearms. Almost for the same reason as the European knights crossbows.
      Around 1600, they started by restricting the production of firearms to several cities, then forbade them to be produced without a government license, then they began to issue licenses only for guns manufactured for the government, and ended up reducing the government order to a minimum - how As a result, Japan almost returned to a position where it did not have its own arsenal of firearms.
      And only the squadron of Commodore Peri in 1853, with its cannons, "returned the interest" of the samurai to firearms.
  7. +1
    24 November 2018 18: 22
    One arrow in the quiver was not for battle, but carried generic information about the samurai, where his body should have been delivered in case of death on the battlefield.

    Type of personal token.

    hi
  8. +1
    24 November 2018 21: 15
    Quote: Decimam
    "Samurai also loved firearms."
    Samurai did not like firearms

    I also liked it, but before 1600.
    1. 0
      24 November 2018 23: 50
      All the same, the samurai, along with the firearm, used the bow.
      1. +1
        25 November 2018 16: 29
        Quote: albert
        Samurai anyway

        The picture is not a samurai, but a shokhei.
    2. 0
      25 November 2018 00: 37
      Right before the Meiji restoration, guns and guns were also used.
    3. 0
      25 November 2018 20: 47
      I also liked it, but before 1600.

      Thank you for the addition. smile And to fit the topic:Samurai Weapon Graphics...

      Anyone who wants to read about the whole variety of samurai firearms can do this by following the link:
      https://disgustingmen.com/history/teppo-japan-samurai-guns
  9. 0
    18 January 2020 23: 05
    And what is the name of the fur apron for yabusame riders?

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