SW006 Sitting Ashigaru Arquebusier’

By the year 1600 many Ashigaru were heavily equipped with ‘Tanegashima’, Japanese-made matchlock arquebuses introduced into Japan by Portuguese traders in 1543.  These weapons revolutionized warfare allowing lower-class Ashigaru to train and destroy heavily armed cavalry or Samurai.

     Within a few short years arquebus-armed ashigaru far outnumbered the older, traditional archers leading from a two-to-one ratio at the time of Sekigahara to a four-to-one ratio in later periods.

    Archers however still had one distinctive advantage…  They could fire, reload and fire once more much faster!
    Our Ashigaru Arquebusier is loaded and ready to fire.