State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan - Book Report/Review Example

Overview This book starts with an account of events in the period as narrated by a warrior, Nomoto Tomoyuki that is written as a petition for reward by his son. In the narration, the author brings out the events that took place in the life of a warrior or what it was like to be a warrior in the ancient Japan. These narrations show the bureaucracy that was in the warrior community where a lot of evidence was needed in order for rewards to be given; this was to avoid instances of warriors reporting to the battlefield or making a single kill and leaving. This paper will give a brief overview of the book and delve into some themes that are of particular interest to the reader. The story, which is given from the perspective of a person present in the battle, continues to the second chapter, which analyses the 14th century warfare in Japan including the techniques and tactics that were employed by the warriors of that time. This chapter provides documentary evidence on all the wounded during war with a lot of precision. The book goes further to examine how the booming trade and prosperity in the 13th century increased violence since the warriors controlled enough resources to sustain a large number of fighting men. The resources that these warriors used were in most cases not bought but taken from their owners, however, during the long campaigns even the wealthiest warriors found it hard to maintain their supplies. When a full blown war erupted in 1350, the Bakafu who was controlled by Takauji passed a law that required Shugo to set aside half of all providence for the military, this made most of the warriors to abandon their self governing lifestyles and start serving under Shugo. The book conclude with Ryoshun killing Fuyuske for disloyalty which makes most of his soldiers angry therefore leading to his defeat and surrender to the southern courts. Clothing arms and armour In keeping up with the developing sophistication in weapons, the most important part function of their armour was to protect them from arrows; therefore, the face mask and the helmet were some of the most important pieces of their armour (Cart ledge, 2003). A shield was a crucial armour to the soldiers since it protected them and the whole phalanx formation, while the loss of a spear or a sword would be excused, the loss of a shield was considered a disgrace on the part of the soldier who lost it. Lamellar and modular allowed the soldiers to move freely while the general shape of the armour was designed in such a way that the soldier would be able to move all body parts and in addition provide extra deflection capabilities to arrows. Arms production during this period was mainly situated in Kyoto in the temple complexes but as time moved, the production became regionalised. One of the key features of arm production during this period was that they could not be produced in masses and there were classes, which included luxurious arms. Due to the restrictions in their production, the weapons were usually expensive and were passed down the family lineage. Loosing ones weapons or armour was considered loss of an investment, which would be hard to replace since money was not enough during the war period. Soldiers in a battlefield In the battle field, the most common weapons that were used included bows and arrows since they were the most effective, however, stones and rocks were also used. In addition to bows and arrows, swords, they also used glaives and kumabiki war-rakes; they also used stones, clubs, boiling oil, boiling water, fire, spears among other weapons. The use of these crude weapons was necessitated by the shortage of more sophisticated weapons, which were not being produced in large numbers. During the war, common injuries to the soldiers could not prevent them from continuing with the battle and the only instances when they could be excused were when the injuries were around their torso. Loyalty and rewards Warriors who were thought to have proved their fighting skills in the battlefield were rewarded by the authorities using several means, which included moving up the social ladder. In most cases, the reward for military performance in the battle field lay on the ability of a warrior to show injuries that he had suffered in fighting for his people. The most common form of reward apart from material compensation was through political endeavours where one got follower but the warrior must have brought the head of a person of interest from the enemy’s side. The concept of loyalty had different meaning to different warriors since they could switch allegiances from one group to another; the primary form of loyalty was either to one’s clan, family or to themselves. The warfare, supplies and consequences From the book, evidence shows that the warriors were defined according to classes; there was the lowest class, which involved warriors who fought on foot and used blunt object. The higher ranked warriors used horse backs and used more sharp objects such as arrows, as time went on the art of warfare changed and more battles were fought on horsebacks using mass attack tactics. When war broke out, it usually left in its trail huge amounts of destruction of both human life and property, for instance, the war that broke out in 1330, which was one of the largest ever witnessed since it involved all landed members of the society left a huge trail of destruction (conlan, 6). Due to the destruction of property, trade in those times was greatly hindered forcing some warriors to take provisions from their land without paying. In addition, warriors began stealing artefacts from temples and religious places due to their value, military leaders also forced religious centres to provide them with weapons and food in exchange for protection (Conlan, 96). However, the war did not only have negative effects as it allowed the warriors to move up the social ladder. During the war, generals were the ones who were responsible to source for provisions for the warriors; these could be sourced from religious institutions or from lands where one controlled through taxes or by force. However, as the war went on, provisions became scarce and sometimes could be given in exchange of a service. Criticism Despite the book explaining the warrior life of Japanese soldiers in the 14th century, it has several shortcomings. One of it is the several spelling mistakes in the book, which means the book was never thoroughly reviewed before it was printed. Some stylistic choices in the book too leave a lot to be desired regarding the book that is so much important to history of Japan, for instance, references to figures are written as double references and cryptic therefore confusing the readers. The colour plates, which should have been at the bottom of the page or after every diagram are situated almost towards the end. However, despite these small shortcomings, the book can be classified as great in explaining the 14th century war tendencies in Japan. For instance, the way that the author has explained the service of Nomoto Tomyuki in the military is an almost exact replica of what was happening in the 14th century, in addition, the statistics that the author has presented in the second chapter goes to emphasise the violence that was being experienced in the region. Other chapters have been used to show the place of violence in the society and how warriors developed their skills. Works cited Conlan, Thomas. State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan. Vol. 46. Center for Japanese Studies University of Michigan, 2003. print Read More