Ashigaru Archer Taking Aim (Western Army), The Battle of Sekigahara, 1600--single standing figure
$55.00
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Item Number: SW005
Ashigaru Archer Taking Aim (Western Army), The Battle of Sekigahara, 1600
This other archer is picking out a likely target for his arrow. Like the previous figure, this Ashigaru also carries the 'Sashimono' small banner held stiffly by a pole inserted into a lacquered wooden holder on the back of his armour called an 'Ukezusu'.
SEKIGAHARA REINFORCEMENTS
As most of you will remember, this past April, we released the first batch of our major new series ‘SAMURAI WARS’ based around the Battle of Sekigahara, which took place on October 21, 1600 in what is now Central Japan.
This battle was fought by the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu against a combined coalition army led by Ishida Mitsunari.
Despite involving approx. 160,000 Samurai and Ashigaru warriors, the engagement was incredibly fast and brutal. For more than 6 hours from 8:00 in the morning until the afternoon, the battle raged, leaving more than 40,000 dead and many thousands more wounded. Just after 2:00pm, Tokugawa leysasu, the leader of The Eastern Army, declared total victory.
This incredibly brief, but bloody engagement reshaped Japan and led to Tokugawa himself being named ‘Shogun’. It also paved the way for over 250 years of peace and stability under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate for the whole country.
'SEKIGAHARA 1600’
In the year 1600, after 150 years of perpetual warfare, Japan’s warlords united behind two rival factions triggered by the death of the great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The two contenders for power were Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa leyasu. Their contest was finally settled by a huge force of arms in a small mountain valley in central Japan. By the end of that day, on 21 October 1600, 40,000 corpses from both armies lay dead across the grass of the small valley, as Tokugawa leyasu became the undisputed master of Japan.
Within three short years, the Emperor himself would grant him the ultimate title he sought… Shogun.
This particular battle and the warriors who fought it are the focus of this colourful new and exciting King & Country series that captures the unique military style and fighting techniques of medieval Japan along with the Samurai and Ashigaru warriors who took part in this mighty struggle.
A WORD ABOUT THE ‘ASHIGARU’
In medieval Japan, the great mass of low-ranking foot soldiers were known as ‘Ashigaru’, or ‘light feet’, and began to be adopted into the ranks of most feudal-period Samurai armies towards the end of the 15th century.
Very rudimentary sets of basic designs of armour known as ‘Okashi Gosuka’ or ‘Light Armour’ were often produced in bulk to be issued to these ‘warriors on foot’. Among their primary weapons were long lances or spears, called ‘Yari’, which could be as long as nine feet in length. Other large formations of ‘Ashigaru’ were comprised almost exclusively of ‘Arquebusiers’, a matchlock predecessor of the musket, and, of course, ‘Archers’. In addition to their primary weapon, virtually every ‘Ashigaru’ also carried a long sword (called a ‘Tachi’ or ‘Katana’) and sometimes also a smaller sword called a ‘wakizashi’.
Here is just the first small installment of our fighting ‘Ashigaru’ warriors belonging to the ‘Western Army’ of Ishido Mitsunari (1560-1600)..
Due to be released in JUNE 2026.
