Japanese Yari Tactics

Timeline

1. c. 1400–1460Kinai and Ōmi · KinaiIn the late Muromachi period, provincial shugo and kokujin lords gradually equipped ashigaru with yari, lengthening shafts and improving spearheads, laying the equipment foundation for subsequent large-scale infantry battles.
2. 1467–1477Kyoto · Kyoto PrefectureDuring the Ōnin War, factions in Kinai fought prolonged campaigns around Kyoto, where the tactic of ashigaru forming ranks and thrusting with long spears was tested and spread in actual combat, and the yari-fusuma formation began to take shape.
3. c. 1480–1570Provinces of the Tōkaidō · TōkaidōSengoku daimyō organized ashigaru into thousand- or even ten-thousand-man units, using three-rank or multi-layer yari-fusuma to withstand cavalry charges, coordinating with bow and teppō formations to create mature legion tactics.
4. c. 1543–1600Battlefields across Japan · JapanAfter the matchlock's introduction, mixed tactics of yari and teppō units alternating fire and advancing in reliefs became mainstream, and yari tactics remained one of the core infantry methods around the Battle of Sekigahara.