samurai played the role of the ruling class in japanese society.
samurai played the role of the ruling class in japanese society.
what role did samurai play in japanese society?
the ruling class
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the core of the japanese forces were the samurai, the military caste of japan who dominated japanese society. japanese society was divided into four castes: samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in that order. the samurai caste owned most of the land in japan, had the sole right to carry swords and to execute on the spot any commoner who was insufficiently deferential, and were allowed to own horses and ride into battle. the standard samurai weapon by 1592 was the yari, a spear meant to stab, often with a cross-blade that allowed a samurai to pull his opponent from his horse. if samurai wished to cut his opponent rather than stab, the weapons were the ōdachi, an extremely long sword with a huge handle, or the naginata, a polearm with very sharp curved blade. the most famous of all the samurai weapons was the katana, a sword described by the british military historian stephen turnbull as "...the finest edged weapon in the history of warfare". samurai never carried shields, with the "katana" being used to deflect blows. by 1592, the armor of the samurai was lamellae made from iron or leather scales tied together which had been modified to include solid plate to help protect the samurai from bullets. samurai engaged in psychological warfare by wearing an iron mask into battle with a mustache made of horsehair and a "sinister grin" attached to the outside. the majority of the japanese soldiers sent into korea were "ashigaru" (infantrymen), who were usually conscripted peasants armed with spears, tanegashima (japanese arquebuses), or yumi (japanese bows). unlike the samurai with their expensive suits of armor, the "ashigaru" wore cheap suits of iron armour around their chests. the "ashigaru" armed with arquebuses were trained to fight in the european style, with the men trained to fire their guns in formation to create a volley of fire, then to go down on their knees to reload, while the men behind them fired, and the cycle repeated over and over again.
japanese invasions of korea (1592–1598)