Did The Japanese Have Shields

Tankō worn by foot soldiers and keikō worn by horsemen were both pre samurai types of early japanese cuirass constructed from iron plates connected together by leather thongs.

Did the japanese have shields. Japanese samurai was for a entirely different type of combat. As op others have stated infantry archers did use shield walls to protect themselves. Spears and polearms also don t work too well with shields which were the essential staple weaponry of japanese armies. In japan there were shields but they were not personal shields.

Why didn t japanese infantrymen and samurai use shields. According to the japanese during the battle of jiksan the chinese wore armour and used shields that were at least partially bulletproof. A historical presentation about ancient japanese warfare and some specific military choices made by the ancient japanese warlords. In european context it would be mantlets.

These shields were either made of wood iron plates riveted together or several layers of lacquered rawhide. They were planted on the ground. Please consider supporting me on patreon for more and better. To extend upon u papajacky s response not only are shields unwieldy on horseback alongside manipulating a bow they simply didn t fit the style of battle that lasted throughout most of japanese history.

Japanese actually had shields and their use evolved with the advancing nature of warfare as weapons became more sophisticated. They were mostly mounted archer type calvary and they didn t have the heavy european type warhorses. Cuirasses and helmets were manufactured in japan as early as the 4th century ce. Reposting a vid i put on epimetheus s channel japanese hs girls forced to be battlefield nurses.

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. These big shields were used all the way into the warring states period. Earliest japanese armour is thought to have evolved from the armour used in ancient china. Japanese archers and infantry did use shields but not the type of shields a person could carry around and use.

Use of shields in japan s history. Like all the types of japanese hand held shield they had a wooden handle in the centre. In the context of horse riding samurai we actually mean hand held shields which are smaller lighter than standard infantry shields.