Database: Ashigaru

When warlords of feudal Japan needed extra protection for convoys, they would draft peasants to boost their numbers. This was more of a show of force as the peasants were not expected to do any real fighting and were released from service when no longer needed. However, some would remain as foot soldiers known as ashigaru (literally, "light of foot") which would form the lowest rank of an army. While drafts were a regular practice, they were not demanding as to cause labor shortages in the countryside. Widespread starvation at the time was more often the result of bad weather or the direct impact of war rather than a lack of farm workers and other laborers.

Ashigaru first earned their reputation as an effective military class during the Ōnin War (1467-77) when, along with nobushi (armed peasants) and akuto (bandits), they laid waste to the capital city, Kyoto. Although war did provide opportunity for social ascension, few rose to the rank of samurai. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the son of a foot soldier and successor to Oda Nobunaga, is the most famous exception.

Originally, ashigaru weapons consisted of bow and arrow or pole-mounted arms like the naginata, and later, the yari. Once firearms were introduced in 1543, ashigaru played an increasingly prominent role in warfare and were often organized into musketeer units, teppo ashigaru or teppogumi ashigaru.