An Ashigaru would be the owner of the ancient Nodashi swords or great swords. These were the province of the lowly foot soldier who were looked down upon by the Samarai. These foot warriors were common born and often conscripted and poorly trained. They were rewarded only in loot at the end of a successful campaign and even carried in their own food.
While the high born Samarai looked down on the Ashigaru and felt they had nothing of worth to contribute, the longer reach of a sword such as Humongous 66 Inch Full Tang Nodachi Sword, put them further away from the ravaging Mongols than the mounted Samurai with their lighter though usually much better made Japanese Longbow and katana.
While the Samurai could and did certainly confuse the Mongol horde by approaching and reciting a record of his ancestry, his deeds, and challenging and individual opponent, this method of warfare was impractical against the Mongols who simply tossed bombs at them and rained arrows before his recitation was finished. The way of honor of a Samurai was impractical a longer reach was necessary.
Perhaps the Ashigaru were lowborn and unwilling participants with little skill at first but they eventually mastered the way of the sword and wore such great swords as the Humongous 66 Inch Full Tang Nodachi Sword slung over their back as a sign of status and fought with increasing skill.
Although the Japanese foot soldier and his great sword may have been considered lowly, and with little to contribute, times changed and the Ashigaru gradually gained status as battle tactics changed and some even rose to prominence. When warfare changed from the l one on one battles by mounted Samurai,to group attacks by massed foot soldiers, the lightly armored Ashigaru became the main force of the battles.
Such legendary sword makers such as Goro Nyudo Masamune may not have made a sword for a lowly Japanese foot soldier such as the Humongous 66 Inch Full Tang Nodachi Sword, but his contributions to Japanese sword making changed the way swords were made and he introduced double quenching increasing the tensile strength of the swords he made. Such swords were works of art as the Samurai demanded beauty as well as practicality. Swords made after his innovations were stronger, more deadly and less likely to rust.
The Ashigaru as foot soldiers required longer weapons that would be impractical for the mounted Samurai to carry, and these lightly armored soldiers might wear only a Jingasa (hardened leather hat) and a breastplate. Sometimes the Ashigaru, might have been armed with a Naginata, which was a pole weapon.
Still, they were effective Japanese soldiers and later rigorously trained and successful, with success and results among the Japanese warlords, came rewards and power, and the first to rise from these ranks was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was born of a peasant warrior with no Samurai ancestry as far as records indicate, but after his ride to prominence, he raised his soldier followers to Samurai status.
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