A Comparative Study on Arms and Armor in East Asia

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By comparing the data of the arms and armor excavated in the Japanese Islands, the South Korean peninsula, and China, the data which shows the exchange between these areas became clear. On the other hand, the existence of the data which is characteristic of each area and shows the originality of that area also became clear.In the Japanese Islands, since the Yayoi period, offensive weapons including bows and arrows and defensive implements such as armor had changed, affecting each other. In the middle of the 5th century, the new offensive weapons and defensive implements were introduced simultaneously. These were fundamentally outfits of cavalrymen and it became clear that they were brought into the Japanese Islands from the northeast area in China and Koguryo via the South Korean peninsula. The outfits of heavy cavalrymen in which the horse wore armor materialized in the northeast area in China in the 4th century were excavated also at the South Korean peninsula southernmost end, and i … More t can be confirmed that both are the same genealogy. However, in the Japanese Islands, since excavations of the armor and the helmet of a horse are very rare, it is thought that full outfits of cavalrymen hardly spread.This situation shows that outfits of cavalrymen were not introduced together with the cavalry battle, but that they were taken in as new-type arms and armor with higher performance. Full outfits of cavalrymen were not needed in the Japanese Islands of those days. The difference of the armaments in various regions of East Asia was also a difference of the battle method.Furthermore, as for defensive facilities, the rampart drawn on the mural painting of the Koguryo ancient tomb and the high bulwark involving a ground castle have not been discovered in the Japanese Islands. These facts make it possible to think that arms and armor were prepared as equipment for the battle in the Japanese Islands. In addition, as for the horse, there is a fact that horse implements were introduced earlier than outfits of cavalrymen. Therefore it will be necessary to take into consideration that selection was made in order to accept things which were required at the time. Less