Samurai mercenaries

Hello all,

I'm new to this group and to Samurai history in general and have
developed a sudden interest in this period after seeing some Samurai
wargames figures. Do you have a list of good books for some one who
whant's to research Samurai armies and warfare?

I'm also curious to know if the Portuguese ever employed christian
Samurai mercenaries.

Best regards,

Nuno

Hi.
Any of Stephen Turnbulls books are a good place to start;
Try "Samurai armies", "The Samurai Sourcebook", and "The Samurai- a military
history" and others for some of the best basic information on the Samurai out
at the moment.
From there I would suggest "The tales of the Heike" (Translated) By Helen
McCullough (Or Heike Monogatari) for a history of the events leading up to
the first Shogunate in Japan under the Minamoto family in 1190a.d.
Other good reads are "The Bakufu" by J. Maas, "Hired Swords" By Dr. Karl F.
Friday, and "Legacies of the sword" also by Dr. Friday.
Amazon.com should have all of these books, or other online bookstores will
but I would start with Stephen Turnbulls books as they are concise, easy to
read and well illustrated with photos and drawings. A good start.
Good luck.
Abayo.
Ben Sharples.

Thanx Ben,

I think I'll start with Turbull's books more related to the warfare
aspect. I've found some very nice sites on the subject but Samurai
Archives is "the cream of the crop". Very nicely done and a great
introduction on this period.

Any info on the use of christian Samurai by the Portuguese?

Cheers,

Nuno

Not many would leave thier homeland, especialy if one
is needed to forfill thier duty to thier Dyimo (sorry
I don't remember the correct spelling). Although mabye
if one was a ronin then they might, and the contry at
war period wasn't the best time to live thier.

Who knows, mabye I shouldn't be speaking on this
subject.

On the book subject I have read Book of Five Rings,
and most of Art of War. Though I may have to re read
both to better understand them.

--- kingscarbine <headburner@...> wrote:

> Thanx Ben,
>
> I think I'll start with Turbull's books more related
> to the warfare
> aspect. I've found some very nice sites on the
> subject but Samurai
> Archives is "the cream of the crop". Very nicely
> done and a great
> introduction on this period.
>
> Any info on the use of christian Samurai by the
> Portuguese?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nuno
>
>
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Hi

Why not take a look at Stephen Turnbull's Web site, he has just completed the Feb2002 update!

http://freespace.virgin.net/stephen.turnbull/frameset_samuria.html

Good place to start with his publications.

Best wishes with your interest......

Rod ;-)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Nuno wrote:

I'm new to this group and to Samurai history in
general and have
developed a sudden interest in this period after
seeing some Samurai
wargames figures. Do you have a list of good books for
some one who
whant's to research Samurai armies and warfare?

I'm also curious to know if the Portuguese ever
employed christian
Samurai mercenaries.

Best regards,

Nuno

If your interested in this period of japanese history,
one of the best books you can read is probably
"Bushido" It basically details the samurais way of
life back then.

As for the samurai mercenaries, the answer is I think
so. I don't know for sure, but there are definatley
hints that the Inquisition used christian samurai. I
don'r think they used them alongside there
conquistadores though.

This was a very controversial subject back then. For a
samurai to be controlled by a "gaijin" a foreigner,
sent alot of samurai up in flames. The Gaijin were
below the "eta" in japanese society, this meant that
anyone who came from outside of japan was SUB-human,
and to be treated as such.

Lee



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--- In samuraihistory@y..., "kingscarbine" wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm new to this group and to Samurai history in general and have
> developed a sudden interest in this period after seeing some Samurai
> wargames figures. Do you have a list of good books for some one who
> whant's to research Samurai armies and warfare?
>
> I'm also curious to know if the Portuguese ever employed christian
> Samurai mercenaries.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Nuno

There were Japanese overseas in the sixteenth century, and I did
see references to Japanese in Macao (or maybe Goa) when I was writing
my masters thesis, but I didn't keep the reference (I was looking at
Japanese trade and piracy at the time).
The shortish answer -- there were Japanese warriors overseas during
the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, who gradually died off or
intermarried with the locals after the Tokugawa Shogunate enacted
their Ban on overseas travel. They were active in the Phillipines and
siam for sure, often as mercenaries. Whether they were Christian I'd
have to re-research, but some of them WERE Christians who left when
Christianity was forbidden by the Tokugawa. My favorite Christian
daimyo, Konishi Yukinaga (one of the 3 lead generals in Hideyoshi's
invasion of Korea) picked the wrong side at the battle of Sekigahara
in 1600 (he fought against the Tokugawa) and was killed.
I can look through my notes if you want more details.

Alex Hazlett
(I was a Japanese History student, now I'm studying Nautical
Archaeology -- currently researching Portuguese shipping in the
sisxteenth century - I'm researching how the Naos that went to Japan
were built)