Japan in the Period of 0 A.D.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Tate & Tedate (盾 & 手盾) - Japanese Shields.

From descriptions in Chinese dynastic record, archaeological evidences and surviving examples we have a lot of information about hand held shields (Temochi tate or Tedate - 手持盾 or 手盾 ) used from the third to the eighth century. These shields were either made of wood, iron plates riveted together or several layers of lacquered rawhide. They were almost all of the time rectangular in shape, 100 to 150 cm in length and 50 to 70 cm in width. Like all the types of Japanese hand held shield, they had a wooden handle in the centre.

Hand held shield were used in combination with swords, spears or axes in close combat situation.

 

A riveted iron plates Tate shield from the Kofun period

 

These shields usually called Tate (盾) were either held by their pole or carried by hands by the soldiers. When retreating, they were usually "worn" or placed on the back of the soldiers to protect them.

Typically, shields of this sort were lined up, sometimes overlapping like roof tiles, to form a portable wall that protected archers on foot. They were also placed atop the walls of fortifications and hung from the sides of boats. On occasion, they served as substitutes for other tools, such as benches or ladders.

http://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2017/12/tate-tedate-japanese-shields.html?m=1

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lion.Kanzen

[Lion.Kanzen]

The Yoshinogari stone age park in Japan. A reconstructed Yayoi era,  wooden shield, with central motif and black and red pattern at the top.

 

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

Stone arrowheads unearthed by archeologists suggest that bows and arrows have been used in Japan from as far back as 10,000 BCE, and it was used indeed as a weapon by the Yayoi period (c.300 BCE–300 CE), when fighting and war became frequent and widespread.

 

Early bows were quite simple; they were called Maruki (丸木) and were made of plain wood like atalpa, zelkova, sandalwood, yew or mulberry and were lacquered or wrapped with bark thongs, to increase their durability in the Japanese climate. They were also straight bow.

 

https://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2017/07/yumi-japanese-bow.html?m=1

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

No horses until Kofun era (4th century AD).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_East_Asian_warfare 

 

Most Japanese horses are descended from Chinese and Korean imports, and there was some cross-breeding with indigenous horses which had existed in Japan since the Stone Age.[19] Although records of horses in Japan are found as far back as the Jōmon period, they played little or no role in early Japanese agriculture or military conflicts until horses from the continent were introduced in the 4th century.[20] The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki mention horses in battle.[21]

https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/eajs2021/paper/56837

The introduction of the horse and objects linked to horse keeping and horse riding at the beginning of the middle Kofun period (late 4th/early 5th century CE), lead to profound changes in Kofun period society. The import of the horse and the introduction of techniques for horse riding and mounted combat are connected to an influx of highly specialised craftspeople arriving from the Korean Peninsula. In addition to the horse, these immigrants furthermore introduced a variety of new crafts and agricultural skills along with prestige objects to the Japanese archipelago.

 

Tomb murals from North-eastern China and the Korean Peninsula as well as archaeological finds and written sources point to the spread of heavy cavalry throughout North-East and East Asia in the 4th century CE. Archaeologists therefore generally think the horse was introduced to the Japanese archipelago out of military necessity und was subsequently used for mounted warfare due to the Kofun people getting involved in military activities on the Korean Peninsula.

 

On first glance the archaeological material seems to support this hypothesis as from the middle Kofun period on there is a noticeable increase of weapons, armour, horses and their equipment among the burial goods. Many of these objects show strong similarities to objects found in North-eastern China, the Korean Peninsula but also nomadic sites in Eurasia. However, there is a distinct lack of protective gear for horses and an equal scarcity of skeletons with traces of injuries that would indicate that mounted combat actually took place on the Japanese Islands. The lack of Kofun period seagoing vessels furthermore raises the question whether or not it was possible to ferry large contingents of mounted warriors to the Korean Peninsula.

 

This paper will examine the role the horse and mounted warriors fulfilled in Kofun period Japan. It will furthermore analyse their representation and importance for Kofun period society and will show how objects as well as ideas and beliefs were hybridised to conform to local needs by examining exchange between the Eurasian mainland and the Japanese archipelago with a focus on the mobility of people, objects, innovations and techniques.

[Lion.Kanzen]

6 hours ago, Lopess said:

  

@Lion.Kanzenso the civ's name could be Wa kingdoms / Wajin, or something more correct along those lines.

Yayoi period is named after the neighborhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era.

So Yayoi isn't an ancient name.

[Lopess]

I will change the civ name to the new proposed name. I will make two long shields, one rectangular and one rectangular with a trapeze tip.

[Lion.Kanzen]

11 minutes ago, Lopess said:

I will change the civ name to the new proposed name. I will make two long shields, one rectangular and one rectangular with a trapeze tip.

only infantry civilization, if we add cavalry it would be scout and mercenary.

[Lopess]

29 minutes ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

only infantry civilization, if we add cavalry it would be scout and mercenary.

I was already aware of this, maybe as Korean mercenaries? I like the idea and have already implemented it in parts suggested by @Carltonusfor Jomon and Aniu merc units.

[Lion.Kanzen]

33 minutes ago, Lopess said:

I was already aware of this, maybe as Korean mercenaries? I like the idea and have already implemented it in parts suggested by @Carltonusfor Jomon and Aniu merc units.

I am looking for cavalry that of the time. I only find Korean Cataphracts.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Third century AD.

they were Ponies.lol.

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lion.Kanzen

[Lopess]

3 minutes ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

I am looking for cavalry that of the time. I only find Korean Cataphracts.

But in this case it could be something lighter, like archer cavalry or javalineer

[Radiotraining]

uhmmm.. I'm not sure there had been such contacts between Japan and Korea.. or I'm not sure they would had Korean mercenaries in Japan, since they had been historically adversaries/enemies

But I'm not really an historian, so you better check it out.

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

7 minutes ago, Radiotraining said:

uhmmm.. I'm not sure there had been such contacts between Japan and Korea.. or I'm not sure they would had Korean mercenaries in Japan, since they had been historically adversaries/enemies

in fact Japan allied itself with Korean kingdoms.

[Lion.Kanzen]

 

Horses in Japan.

Although there is still some controversy over the subject, it is generally believed that horses did not exist in Japan during the Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic periods (Stone Age, Jomon and early YaYoi eras). It is also believed that all Japanese native horses are descended from animals brought from the mainland of Asia at various times and by various routes. Domestic horses were definitely present in Japan as early as the 6th century and perhaps as early as the 4th century.

 

Breed Characteristics

 

Japanese native breeds share a number of characteristics: they are all technically ponies inasmuch as all of them stand under 14.2 hands (147 cm). Their heads are relatively large, the neck is carried horizontally, their manes are thick and flowing. In general, when viewed from the rear the croup is rather wide at the top, narrowing toward the legs. (This is felt to resemble an old style hat woven from grasses and is called, amigasa jiri.)

 

The most common colors are bay, brown, chestnut, roan and cremello. They do not, in general, have white markings on legs or face but a black dorsal stripe is extremely common. All of these local breeds are known for their endurance, their ability to survive on poor food and in severe weather conditions and they all share the characteristics of having extremely tough hooves.

 

http://imh.org/exhibits/past/breeds-of-the-world/asia/japanese-native-horses/

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lion.Kanzen

[Lion.Kanzen]

to understand the Japanese cavalry you have to understand the Korean.

 

Recent archaeological research has uncovered traces of wars as far back as the Jōmon period (ca. 10,000–300 BC) between the various tribes existing on the Japanese Archipelago. Some theorists believe that shortly after the Yayoi period (ca. 300 BC – 250 AD) horse riders from the Korean Peninsula invaded southern Kyūshū, then spread all the way to northern Honshū. This is when horse-riding and iron tools were first introduced to the islands.

[Lopess]

5 hours ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

The Yoshinogari stone age park in Japan. A reconstructed Yayoi era,  wooden shield, with central motif and black and red pattern at the top.

 

 

I'm going to make this texture today.

[Lion.Kanzen]

8 minutes ago, Lopess said:

I'm going to make this texture today.

Check this.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lion.Kanzen

[Lion.Kanzen]

Koreans have horse archers similar to early han.

You can compare.  Goryeo dynasty horse archer.

Horseback Archery includes all martial arts fighting with a weapon on the horseback. It is since 4 centry when a stirrup came out that a martial art took form. It is thought that in Korea, horseback archery was used for hunting animals and displaying along with growing horses since 5~6 BC, with a fine horse coming into being in Buyeo and there were cavalry soldiers using bows arrows, swords and spears and so on. High-speed mounted warfare is a very important part since three kingdoms of ancient Korea and most important martial art in the fastest mobility, information power and an-all out war during wartime. In Goryeo Dynasty martial artists palyed Kyeokgu to practice martial arts, which is assumed to have been transmitted to Goryeo over three kingdoms of ancient Korea as Polo originated from Persia was transfered to Qing Dynasty of China. It is the only sport military officiers enjoyed.

[Lopess]

 

I think the best place to hire him would be in a dock, my fear is to limit Wakoku cav to land maps, but honestly I think they must really be a civ without cavalry only limited to their mercenaries, I'm thinking of leaving their javalineers as hunters/explorers with bonuses for hunting and fast, something similar to what exists in the Zapotecs.

[Lion.Kanzen]

9 minutes ago, Lopess said:

 

I think the best place to hire him would be in a dock, my fear is to limit Wakoku cav to land maps, but honestly I think they must really be a civ without cavalry only limited to their mercenaries, I'm thinking of leaving their javalineers as hunters/explorers with bonuses for hunting and fast, something similar to what exists in the Zapotecs.

the difference is that the Zapotecs haven't way to get horses.

[Lion.Kanzen]

some counters against the battering ram they are going to use axeman and swordman.

They have good archers. They should have a scout riding a pony.

[Lopess]

4 minutes ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

some counters against the battering ram they are going to use axeman and swordman.

They have good archers. They should have a scout riding a pony.

If it's a Korean mercenary scout it could be on a regular horse, leave the native cavalry to the Yamatos in the future.

[Lion.Kanzen]

5 minutes ago, Lopess said:

If it's a Korean mercenary scout it could be on a regular horse, leave the native cavalry to the Yamatos in the future.

In that era the Yamato already have normal cavalry.

[Lion.Kanzen]

War gaming

Heroes.

Spearman 

Dagger-axe , axe and clubman.

Slingers

Archers

only the swordman is missing.

 

[Lopess]

My fork github https://github.com/wltonlopes/yayoi_japan, during the week I make few updates, but on the weekend I will be more active, errors are known because it is a work in progress;