The ashigaru were the foot soldiers of old Japan. Although recruited first to swell an army's numbers and paid only by loot, the samurai began to realise their worth, particularly with arquebuses and spears, until well-trained ashigaru made up a vital part of any samurai army. This book tells the story of the ashigaru for the first time, drawing on previously untranslated Japanese sources and with illustrations that show ashigaru as sailors and catapult artillery men as well as the disciplined ranks that they had become.

Author Biography

Howard Gerrard has been a freelance designer and illustrator for over 20 years. He has worked for a number of publishers, and is an associate member of the Guild of Aviation Artists. His most recent work for Osprey is Campaign 69 'Nagashino 1575'. Stephen Tumbull is the world's leading English language authority on medieval Japan and the samurai. He has travelled extensively in the far east, particularly in Japan and Korea and is the author of The Samurai - A Military History and Men-at-Arms 86 Samurai Armies 1550-1615.