In the turbelent atmosphere of civil unrest
Portuguese merchents came to Japan. They introduced the first firarms
that Japan had ever seen. These guns were simple matchlock muskets
called arquebuses. The Samurai of that era were quick to asses the
strength of this new weapon, and speedily reproduced their own copies
which matched the workmanship of the originals. This was an important
addition to the japanese army who had before fought only with bow,
spear and sword.
In 1549 both Takeda and Uesugi used them in their battles. In 1573 when Takeda Shingen died he left behind him an army that was second to none in the country to his son Takeda Katsuyori. The army consisted of feirce, brave and loyal Samurai who were well known for the ferocity of their calvary charges.
However in 1575, Takeda came up against one of the greater original thinkers in history. This was Oda Nobunaga. The Takeda had for a long time been a threat to the Oda. When Takeda laid seige to an important castle of the Oda's called Nagashino the threat came out into the open. Oda saw this as an opportunity to end the threat and personally lead the releif force. The Takeda army was expected to come with a calvary charge. To deal with this, Oda took his best arquebusiers and arranged them three ranks deep behind a pallisade. The results were devestating. One by one the charges were blasted away by the musket fire. This was a devistating blow to the Takeda.
This battle showed that the firearm had arrived in Japan.
It also marked that it was possible to create an army. Using the sword or the bow took a lot of training to develop muscles as well as to develope good techniques. To use a firearm all that was needed was an ordinary peasant. Now large scale training of peasants to become an army was undertaken.
Examples of army sizes before and after the intruction of the gun can be seen in the chart below.
Troops feilded by the Shimazu 1411-1614
(3)