Did Samurai Carry Shields

When ashigaru lower class infantry came along they had no use for portable shields either because they were usually armed with spears. The samurai started as mounted archers. Free standing wooden boards held up by poles extending from the back were planted on the ground to provide cover for archers.

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Did samurai carry shields. There was no use for shields for them because it hindered them from properly using the yumi japanese long bow. On why didn t the samurai use shields as often in addition to the inconvenience a hand held shield poses to a horse borne archer one of the clearest reason is because the unique samurai armour the kogusoku and ōsode. It would seem as though the general consensus is that samurai as well as their ashigaru counter parts just didn t use shields. The tantō had a ceremonial and decorative function.

But they also often fought in dismounted melee thats where many of their iconic weapons come from. A samurai on horseback wearing ō yoroi 大鎧 in the beginning soldiers wore their shields so they had two hands to do other stuff like firing arrows using other two handed cqc weapons. The tantō was a single or doubled edged knife designed as a stabbing or slashing weapon most samurai would carry one of these short sharp daggers. Spider man does not fly he falls with style.

As far as i have seen samurai never used shields. Japanese actually had shields and their use evolved with the advancing nature of warfare as weapons became more sophisticated. Early japanese foot soldiers did at one time use hand shields dorothy perkins notes the use of wood and leather shields by foot soldiers as early as the mid 6th century. From my knowledge samurai didn t use shields because they saw it as a dishonourable way to fight for you are protecting yourself with an object and not a sword.

Along with what others have said it was considered a dishonour for one to hide behind a shield than face death. The long strap you are referring to is called a guige strap and the original intention was likely not to allow the shield to be transported on one s back although it would have been an added bonus the primary purpose was likely to distribute the weight of the shield during use given that a shield could weigh upwards of 5 10kg being able to support the majority of the load on the. Samurai did not carry shields into battle but still made use of them. Dating back to the heian period 794 1185 the tantō was mainly used as weapon but later evolved to become more ornate and aesthetically pleasing.

Both samurai and ashigaru used shields tate to hide behind both on land and sea these were not hand held shields they were large wood panels. Although the preference is not to use hand held shields sometimes the samurai class did use shields whilst riding into battle. Now i understand archery horse archery was an important part of their role. So why did not they use shields.

It would often be used by the samurai in.