Weapons & Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior 1200-1877 AD

by Thomas D. Conlan

The samurai warrior is famed throughout history for his strict martial code, intricately constructed armor, and distinctive katana sword. But samurai warfare and military culture is much misunderstood in the modern era. In Weapons and Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior, the history and development of samurai warfare is traced over eight centuries. Written by an acknowledged expert, Weapons and Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior is a highly-illustrated, accessible introduction to samurai warfare for both the military enthusiast and general reader.

Divided into six chapters covering mounted samurai, skirmishers, pikemen, commanders, firearms, and artillery and siege techniques Includes more than 300 color line artworks, photographs, and maps illustrating the weapons, armor, equipment, fighting techniques, and tactics of medieval and early-modern Japan Step-by-step illustrations demonstrate skills and postures, including how to fire a bow, fight with a katana, pike combat and tactics, firing an harquebus, and many, many other fighting techniques

Genres: History, Japan, Nonfiction, Martial Arts, War, Japanese History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Thomas Conlan, Professor of East Asian Studies and History, is interested in the political, social and intellectual transformations of Japan from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries.

Majoring in Japanese and History at the University of Michigan, he attended graduate school at Stanford University. Professor Conlan’s first published work, In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan, introduced an important picture scroll depicting the Mongol invasions of Japan.

His next monograph, State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan, based on his Ph.D. dissertation, revealed how warfare transformed the social, political, and intellectual matrix of fourteenth-century Japan. He then wrote a general history of the samurai, entitled Weapons and Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior, 1200-1877 .

In his most recent book, From Sovereign to Symbol: An Age of Ritual Determinism in Fourteenth Century Japan, Professor Conlan analyzed the nature of political thought in medieval Japan.

Currently Professor Conlan is researching Japan’s fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and argues that the Ouchi, a daimyo of western Japan, were the central figures of their age.

Reviews

[Letya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha a képek nem lennének, akkor egy csillagot sem kapna...jó, akkor csak felet ;)
A tartalomban vannak ellentmondások, és minden fegyverről beszél, csak éppen a katanáról nem, mert az nem "fegyver", az csak egy "dísz". Valahogy rosszul kezeli a kardok helyét a társadalomban és a harctéren. El sem töpreng azon, hogy a pisztolyoknak milyen szerepük volt a vadnyugaton, és a háborúban. Pedig, ha csak egy pillanatra párhuzamba állította volna a katanát és a pisztolyt, teljesen más megvilágításba helyezhette volna a dolgokat.
Több ellentmondás is van a szövegben, és nem kevés az elütés/elírás (pedig ez egy új kiadás).
A középkori metszetekért, a vázlatrajzokért és a festményekért érdemes átlapozni a könyvet.

[Samuel Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather interesting, historical account of the shifts and changes of the weapons and armor that the Japanese samurai employed over the many thousands of years as well as the strategies and tactics employed with them. The book does go into just the amount of detail that it needs without getting bogged down into the minutia. There are descriptions of the different types of swords, armor, spears, pikes, guns, and bows with pictures and drawings included. The author did do his homework as there were several passages where he detailed that he traveled to various sites of battles and gave a description on how he believed what had happened based off of reliable, historical accounts. 5/5 stars, would recommend to anyone wanting to learn about this specific part of Japanese history.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book on the complete history of the samurai, from their beginnings as mountain archer to harquebusier and their final "hoorah" in the 1800s.

[WorldconReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Samurai Weapons and Fighting Techniques" by Dr. Thomas D. Conlan (Professor of East Asian Studies & History at Princeton University) is a detailed, fully illustrated, and well researched description of the military history surrounding the Samurai in Japan from around the 12th Century until around the 19th Century CE. At 224 pages and over 300 illustrations covering 8 centuries, this book contains a lot of information.

This is an academic history text complete with a useful glossary and a comprehensive reference section with primary and secondary sources in Japanese as well as sources in English. Although the illustrations and prose go a long way to make the content accessible to the average person, the intended reader would be one already familiar with and very interested in Japanese military history from this time period.

The author thoughtfully analyzes the various weapons used, their roles, and effectiveness based on historical military records. (The number of detailed military records (and artwork) that have survived over 700 years is amazing!) As the author points out, it is commonly assumed that the sword is the most significant symbol of the samurai. Reading this book, we learn that although important, the sword is more of a complement to other weapons in historical Japanese warfare. For example, I was surprised to learn that military documents show that the humble pike caused more injuries than swords after the year 1500. I was also impressed to learn that there were periods of time where the historical records suggest that rifling gun bores and staggered use of guns in ranks were both common in Japan before Europe.

For the casual reader who just wants exposure to "Samurai Stuff", I might suggest a historical novel. However, I absolutely recommend this book to enthusiasts of Japanese military history.

(NetGalley exclusive comment: I think that for most readers that there will be a direct relationship between rating of the book and interest in Japanese military history. I am interested in many aspects of Japanese history, and if I were more of an enthusiast in Japanese military history, I would certainly give this book 5 stars.)

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was brilliant, it contained everything you could ever need to know about samurai and how they fight. It was amazing as I learnt so much while reading it. The pictures and diagrams were brilliant and so easy to understand. I especially lovedthe step by step guides to the motions used with different weapons. I have to admit I might of done them with my mop. I loved the step bystep guide to the armour parts and how they put them on , it's very interesting. I found it fascinating learning about the different type of lacered paper hats. This book was definitely very well researched and the author obviously knows so much . It was excellent learning about how the weapons evolve through time. The changes in battle strategies with useful maps was great. The most fascinating subject was how the building of castles evolved making many impenetrable. I really do recommend this book to those who like learning about samurai, fighting and the changing history of warfare in Japan.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a wonderful history book packed so full with information and pictures.

[John Majerle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was excellently researched and included many good illustrations. My only complaint was the occasional errors in grammar, leading me to wonder if a non-native English speaker contributed much of the text without proper editing by the Brittish author.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book.
Very informative, lots of great pictures and diagrams and really helps to give me a base for understanding Samurai warrior culture.

[Bärbel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ma ei tea, mida ma enne samuraidest teadsin või arvasin. Ju midagi sellist, et keskaegsed jaapanlased mõõkadega?
Ma siis alustan nendestsamadest mõõkadest. Oma üllatuseks sain teada, et eelistatuim relv oli samuraidel hoopis oda! Mõõgaga võitlejatel polnud odade vastu lahinguväljal erilist lootust, kuna oda on pikem ja ulatub ju hoopis kaugemale. Loogiline, aga ise poleks selle peale tulnud. 😃
Muidugi olid ka peatükid mõõkade ja vibude teemal.
Minu lemmikuks olid aga nende raudrüüd. Fotod iseloomustasid ilusasti, kui ilusad ja kirevad need olid. Tahaks kohe oma silmaga mõnda samurai raudrüüd lähedalt näha. Kuna siiani olin näinud vaid neid tüüpilisi Euroopa rüütlite ühevärvilisi metallist raudrüüsid, siis siin tuli vahe kahe erineva kultuuri vahel selgesti välja.
Huvitav detail, mis meelde jäi: lahinguks vajalikud rõivad selga ning relvad kätte sai 18 lihtsa sammuga 😃 Võin vaid loota, et meestele teatati tulevast laghingust ikka aegsasti ette.
Lugemine läks aeglaselt, ikka mitu kuud istus mu öökapil, kuna aeg-ajalt tuli selline kooliõpiku tunne peale, siis tegin taas pausi ja lugesin midagi muud. Aga kui kellelegi samuraide teema meelt mööda on, siis kindlasti soovitan, kasvõi joonistuste ja fotode pärast.

[Katherine 黄爱芬]

Jelas baru kali ini salah beli buku ttg sejarah. Mau ketawa kenceng krn ketololan diri sendiri.

Saya berharap bisa belajar ttg sebagian sejarah Jepang dr buku ini. Eh yg saya peroleh malah soal kuda, pedang, tombak, baju zirah, meriam dll. Dan sejarah Shogun nya lompat sana-sini, plus terjemahan yg kacau, malah bikin tambah mumet. Daripada saya jadi pusing tujuh keliling atau sotoy, lebih baik saya tidak lanjutkan baca buku ini.

Tampaknya saya hrs membaca dulu sejarah Shogun yg sistematis, baru bisa mudeng dgn sejarah yg ditulis di buku ini. Walhasil saya blank abis dgn maksud sejarah di buku ini.

[Briliantina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baca edisi Indonesia terbitan Elex yang teteeep, elex juga terjemahannya XD
Tapi di luar rasa pusing yg disebabkan pengalihbahasaan:, lukisan2, gambar2, dan foto2nya fantastis.
Detail yg dimunculkan pada tiap lukisan bikin aku jd tertarik utk mncari tahu ttg lukisan2 jepang klasik. OOT banget kan? :-D

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

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