Episode 288 – The Right Tool for the Job, Part 1

May 10, 2019

This week, we discuss the history of one of the most important technologies in Japan: the gun. How did it get to Japan and spread around the country so quickly?

Sources
Lidin, Olof G. Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan.

Conlan, Thomas. Weapons and Fighting Techniques of the Samurai Warrior

Images

A Yuan Dynasty (1200s-1300s) era hand cannon. Weapons like these existed in Japan prior to the arrival of Europeans, though European designs were substantially better by the 1500s.
A Japanese matchlock pistol. Weapons like these would spread very rapidly across Japan within a very short time span.
A set of Japanese style arquebuses from the Edo period. Though these are later than the Sengoku era models we are discussing, the general look would be similar.
Re-enactors firing arquebuses. Note that they are carrying the banner of the Toyotomi clan; this will be relevant next week!
A beautiful map for you all laboriously crafted in MS Paint showing the major gunsmithing centers in Sengoku Japan. Red is Negoroji, blue is Sakai, green is Kunitomo, and far in the south (and accidentally still green) is Tanegashima.