The Ashigaru now came into his own being and was now formally known as the Teppo-tai, a Japanese term meaning infantryman. By the time of the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 most Japanese armies had hundreds of these Teppo-tai armed with matchlock rifles,
At Sekigahara bows were still used in great numbers but because of there
enormus success on the battlefield the matchlock rifle quickly replaced
the bow and arrow and changed forever the nature of Japanese warfare. The
Teppo-tai were normally organized into groups of between 30 and 50 men.
The matchlock firearm used had an effective range of 200m and a maximum
range of 500m.
Jingasa
(samurai hats) were used by samurai from the late 1500s but mainly used
during the mid to late Edo Period (1700-1860). The word "Kasa"
meaning hat and "Jin" military.
As the Edo period was a period of peace, Kabuto were used less and Jingasa
became more popular. The function of the Jingasa was still the same as for
Kabuto, but with less accent on protection against arrow or sword, but
from rain or sunshine, and to give an accent on the other aspects of
"Samurai's daily life in times of peace" like: Police duty,
Hunting, Riding etc. next to showing the Samurai's social
status:
Materials and structure of Jingasa
Jingasa were made in iron, leather, paper, wood or bamboo. Almost always covered with some kind of lacquer in different colors, the principal color being black. Maybe the social status could be read by color: gold for Daimyo, vermilion for the middle ranks and black for the lower ranking samurai and ashigaru troops . Even townsmen, craftsmen and farmers were allowed to wear Jingasa.
Jingasa
are often decorated with a Mon ("Family" or maybe better "Aijirushi"
or "Kinship" marks) Showing clan relations.
The inside is black or vermillion colored and sometimes gold specks are
scattered on a black or red base.
COMMON JINGASA STLES
