Oda Nabunaga's Long Pikes(Yari)

[cheng]

Ashigaru(foot soldies) holding long pikes (nagae yari) 4.5 to 6.5 m were the main forces in Samurai armies.

They formed two or three row lines, combined with ashigaru using their tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) and short spears.

Oda Nabudaga(a famous japanese feudal lord)'s units was known to have the longest yari.

The yari was more popular than the long samurai bow as a weapon until the coming of the Edo period.

[playmofire]

Nice work as always, cheng.  These seem t be the Japanese equivalent of the pikemen of the English Civil War period (mid-1600s):

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8560/8753874335_c3f9789876_b.jpg

[Macruran]

Interesting. And now I see where Darth Vader's look was stolen from.

[cheng]

...... These seem t be the Japanese equivalent of the pikemen of the English Civil War period (mid-1600s):

thanks Gordon!
and these ECW pikemen wore red....and their pikes look identical....if only playmobil made them....I would have had an easier time customizing my Samurai foot soldiers
(I did customize some ECW pikemen but the extension poles weren't available back then)

[tahra]

Those are some lonnnnnnnnng pikes indeed!

[GrahamB]

Oda just wanted to be able to boast at after-massacre parties "My Yaris are longer than yours!"

I suppose the yari meant you could skewer the enemy without seeing the whites of their eyes?

There is an English expression 'I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole' (referring to something dubious and a tool of canal boatmen). Is there a Japanese equivalent, 'I wouldn't touch it with  nagae yari'?

Great work, once again! I am particularly grateful for your translations of Japanese words, cheng!

[cheng]

....Great work, once again! I am particularly grateful for your translations of Japanese words, cheng!

thanks GrahamB, "Wakakaka!" (Japanese laughter, also translated )

[Macruran]

Oda just wanted to be able to boast at after-massacre parties "My Yaris are longer than yours!"