Don't go by me, I am not an expert. But I would say that it depended on the war. In Japan, war was almost always literally in your back yard, and you didn't have to go far to find it. But I think that they marched faster back in the day (Genpei wars-end of Sengoku Jidai), but in relative peace time, things seemed to be slower and less organized. For example, the shimabara rebellion of 1638 was for the most part a disaster for the Tokugawa forces (and other assorted allies) because it was in the middle of peace time, and Soldiery had already degraded to an extent. The time it took for reinforcements to get to Shimabara was ridiculous, as well as the initial force to begin with. Compare this to the Genpei wars (1180-1185); if you look at the timeline, many of the battles happened pretty quickly one after another, often involving many of the same combatants as well as the same commanders. Sorry, I know this was lengthy, but I hope it helps.
--- On Wed, 2/18/09, Evan Hodge <evan_hodge@...> wrote:
From: Evan Hodge <evan_hodge@...>
Subject: [samuraihistory] Rate of march
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 11:34 PM
Does it seem that Japanese armies were able to move any faster down the
centuries, given an improved road system? I would like to establish the
likely rate of march for particular periods.
Given the short stature of soldiery I would imagine they could leg it.
I know that in modern western warfare, the shorter regular infantry
often outmarched Guardsmen selected for their height.
Does anyone have historical sources that speak of campaign rate of
march?
Thanks.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]