Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan by Karl F.Friday

Author:Karl F.Friday
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Humanities
Published: 2004-11-02T04:34:59+00:00

From the mountain cliffs to the shallows of the sea they had piled up

large boulders, and over these stacked thick logs, on top of which they

positioned two rows of shields and erected double turrets, with narrow

openings through which to shoot. Warriors stood with bows strung and

arrows at the ready. Below this, they covered the tops of the boulders

with brush fences. Vassals and their underlings waited, grasping bear-

claw rakes and long-handled sickles, ready to charge forth when given

the word. Behind the walls stood countless saddled horses in twenty

or thirty rows. . . . In the shallows of the sea to the south were large

boats ready to be put to oars instantly and head to the deeper water,

where tens of thousands of ships fl oated, like wild geese scattered across the sky. On the high ground they readied rocks and logs to roll down

upon attackers. On the low ground they dug trenches and planted

sharp stakes.47

These descriptions, drawn from later literary accounts of the Gempei War,

doubtless incorporate considerable exaggeration, but they nevertheless offer important clues about the nature of late twelfth-century fortifi cations. Two points, in particular, merit special attention. First, the preparations for battle involved provisions for escape – “countless saddled horses in twenty or thirty rows” and “large boats ready to be put to oars instantly,” to ferry troops to “tens of thousands of ships” waiting in deeper water – in addition to the defensive works. And second, as formidable as Ichinotani was, it was neither a complete enclosure nor fortifi ed in all directions. In fact, the Taira defeat there was brought about, in part, by Minamoto Yoshitsune’s attack from the hills behind it. Similar tactics decided other key battles of the age as well.48

Late Heian and early Kamakura “jōkaku” were defensive lines, not castles or forts intended to provide long-term safe haven for armies ensconced within.

Many were simply barricades erected across important roads or mountain passes.

Others were transient wartime modifi cations to temples, shrines or warrior residences. Their purpose, in either case, was to concentrate campaigns and battles: to slow enemy advances, thwart raiding tactics, control selection of the battleground, restrict cavalry maneuver, and enhance the ability of foot soldiers (who could be recruited in much larger numbers) to compete with skilled

horsemen. And they were expendable, as well as expedient; they were never

the sites of sustained sieges or – by choice – of heroic fi nal stands. Contingency 122

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