Hōjutsu practise
Hōjutsu (砲術) or "the art of gunnery" is a Japanese form of martial arts dedicated to the use of firearms, most notably the Tanegashima or matchlock arquebus. Still practised to this day, modern groups keep large collections of Edo Period firearms to be used at displays performed within the grounds of castles.
History[]
Japanese warfare of the 15th and early 16th centuries had begun to evolve away from the traditional manner of the Kamakura Period, focusing less on elite samurai and more upon large scale units of Ashigaru or "light [of] foot". These peasant soldiers were often armed with yari spears, yumi bows or occasionally naginata polearms. The introduction of the matchlock in 1543 by Portuguese sailors, who first landed on Tanegashima island hence the Japanese name, led to a large military revolution. Most famously, Oda Nobunaga used matchlocks at the battle of Nagashino in 1575 to devastating effect against Takeda cavalry.
Despite modern depictions of samurai detesting firearms for being "dishonourable", they actually took to the weapons quite quickly with the main issue some had being that Tanegashima weren't as effective as bows. The weapons that the Portuguese introduced were loud and fairly easy to learn, but fired slowly, sometimes as low as once a minute, often inaccurately and as Miyamoto Musashi said "a bullet fired from a gun is not visible, and this is a downside"[1], in that a soldier could not see where the trajectory of his shot went. In comparison, a well-trained archer could fire as many as six shots a minute, which had more effective range for penetrating armour, could be used in the rain and allowed for great manoeuvrability, especially from horseback. However, matchlocks had the advantage of being far easier, and thus cheaper to learn how to fire, could often be maintained more easily than bows and once the Japanese learned how to make them, could be made more efficiently than Yumi. In the words of Takeda Shingen "Hereafter, guns will be the most important weapons. Therefore decrease the number of spears [in your armies] and have the most capable men carry guns. Furthermore, when you assemble your soldiers, test their marksmanship and order that the selection of [gunners] be in accordance with the results."[2] Soon, large numbers of ashigaru soldiers armed with arquebuses were the mainstay of Japanese armies. During the Imjin War, over a quarter of all Japanese troops were armed with matchlocks, in comparison to barely half that number a mere twenty years before.
Strategy[]
In comparison to European matchlock warfare, Japanese tactics relied far more on aggression. Whereas in Europe, pike and shot warfare relied on slow moving "walls" of muskets accompanied and protected by pikes, Japan utilised bamboo walls or Tate shields which could be lifted and moved quickly. The emphasis was to put pressure on enemy gunners and reduce their ability to fire back. Also unlike European armies, the Japanese still utilised bows often using them to cover the gunners as they approached. The Japanese also developed lacquer-work boxes to cover the firing mechanism, allowing for use in the rain, as well as using string as distance measuring devices, allowing for accuracy during fog or low light conditions.
Schools[]
There were a number of Hōjutsu schools:
- Inatomi-ryū
- Geki-ryū
- Ogino-ryū
- Tanegashima-ryū
- Tatsuke-ryū
- Seki-ryū
- Bue-ryū
- Morishige-ryū
- Yō-ryū
- Takashima-ryū
Gallery[]
