10 Ways Samurai Were Nothing Like You Thought
10Samurai Were Not So Elite Though we think of the samurai as an elite fighting force, the majority of Japan’s army were foot soldiers called
Ashigaru began as common rabble plucked from rice fields, but when
daimyo realized a well-trained standing army was superior to on-and-off warriors, they trained them to fight. Ancient Japan had three kinds of warriors samurai,
ashigaru and
When
ashigaru rather than the ranks of their more affluent counterparts.
Ji-samurai certainly weren’t as respected as true samurai, but their assimilation into the
ashigaru was hardly a demotion. Japan’s