ashigaru

Ashigaru were foot soldiers who formed the bulk of infantry in feudal Japan from the 15th to the early 17th century. The name means foot soldier, and it marks a lower social status than the samurai. Ashigaru were often recruited from peasants or other lower classes and served under powerful daimyo in campaigns across the provinces.

Initially they fought with spears and swords and provided the main melee force in battlefield formations. After contact with firearms in the mid-16th century, some ashigaru served as gunmen, armed with matchlock arquebuses. Firearms prompted new tactics: firing lines and volley drills, with archers and armored samurai in support.

Ashigaru formations were organized into battalions under a commander and could number from hundreds to thousands. Their effectiveness is seen in campaigns of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi; at Nagashino (1575) organized arquebus units helped repel cavalry charges, aided by defensive works. Across the Sengoku period, ashigaru infantry enabled daimyo to compensate for the limitations of geography and status relative to veteran samurai.

With the unification of Japan and the establishment of the Edo period, the role and status of ashigaru diminished as warfare professionalized and centralized power reduced large-scale campaigns. The term remains a standard reference in histories of Japanese military organization and the Sengoku era.