Warfare in Japan

Warfare in Japan from the fourth to the nineteenth century has caused much controversy among Western military and political historians. This volume assembles key articles written by specialists in the field on military organization, the social context of war, battle action, weapons and martial arts. The focus is on the transformation of patterns of warfare that arose from internal as well as external factors. Contents: Feudalism in Japan: Feudalism in Japan a reassessment, John Whitney Hall. The Changing Socio-Cultural Context of Miltary Organisation: Teeth and claws: provincial warriors and the Heian court, Karl F. Friday; The formation of bushi bands (bushidan), Susumu Ishii; Women and inheritance in Japan's early warrior society, Hitomi Tonomura; 'Hideyoshi's peace' and the transformation of the Bushi class, Shosaku Takagi; The increasing poverty of the samurai in Tokugawa Japan, 16001868, Kozo Yamamura. Aesthetics and Ethics of War: From Heiho to Bugei: the emergence of the martial arts in Tokugawa Japan, George Cameron Hurst III; Kabala in motion: kata and pattern practice in the traditional bugei, Karl F. Friday. Changing Patterns of Warfare: Event and process in the founding of Japan: the horserider theory in archaeological perspective, Walter Edwards; The introduction of the art of mounted archery into Japan, Reinier H. Hesslink; The sea battle of Dannoura, W.R. Wilson; The Heike Monogatarai and the Japanese warrior ethic, Kenneth Dean Butler; The nature of warfare in 14th-century Japan: the record of Nomoto Tomoyuki, Thomas Donald Conlan. Changing Patterns of Warfare: Samurai in passage: the transformation of the 16th-century Kanto, Michael P. Birt; 'Shorthand of the Samurai': the use of heraldry in the armies of 16th-century Japan, Stephen R. Turnbull. Weapons: Japanese archery and archers, E. Gilbertson; Arms and men: 14th-century Japanese swordsmanship illustrated by skeletons from Zaimokuza near Kamakura Japan, Myra Shackley; The development and history of the Naginata, Ellis Amdur; Chinese influence on Japanese siege warfare, Stephen Turnbull; Japanese castles, P.M. Clayburn; Index. About the Author: Harald Kleinschmidt is Professor and Dean of the Doctoral Program in International Political Economy, University of Tsukuba, Japan.