Armed with the longbow ashigaru archers grew in importance from the 14th century when the tactic of mass volley fire was employed against the newer and larger armies that were beginning to appear.

Archers in the 16th century were eventually overtaken by the arquebus but they weren't entirely phased out altogether. Because the arquebus was slow to reload compared to the longbow a tactic was often employed for archers to accompany squads of gunners who would give them cover when they were reloading. The Zohyo Monogatari, a book about ashigaru warfare written in 1649, explains that 'on the matter of the disposition of the archery corps, stand one archer in the space between two matchlockmen (arquebusiers), to cover the arquebuses reloading. An arrow can be loosed in between the two matchlockmen firing, thus covering the reloading interval.' To keep the archers well supplied ashigaru arrow bearers would be present who wore boxes with a load of a hundred arrows on their backs. Spent arrows could also be picked up off the ground and reused, another advantage of the bow over the firearm.

The officer in charge of the archers was the yumi ko gashira or 'lieutenant of the archer squad'. He had to give the command to loose the longbows and had to make sure that the enemy was within range. The Zohyo Monogatari states that 'the decision about the effective firing distance is a difficult one to make'. Note that the word 'fired' is used; arrows are not fired but 'loosed'. Primary targets for the archer was the horse so that when wounded they would run amok and break the formation of the enemy and impede them should any die.

Archers were also expected to enter hand-to-hand combat at some stage. If arrows were running low they were not to waste them and instead form up into a line to allow one last volley and then enter the fighting. If they were forced to withdraw they were to retreat to a spear's length and loose their bows into the vacated space. It was also considered a good idea to fold up the bowstring in case it was cut through.

Some archers were highly trained and fulfilled the role of a sharpshooter and whose job it would be to take out important people, a tactic also employed by samurai archers. Archers could also be employed as skirmishers and advance towards an enemy in a loose formation making it difficult for them to be targeted by enemy missile fire. But on the whole the primary duty of the ashigaru archer was to loose many volleys of arrows at the massed ranks of the enemy.

The longbow carried by the ashigaru was the same as the version carried by the samurai. It was made from deciduous wood faced with bamboo and was reinforced with a binding of rattan to further strengthen the composite weapon together. Like the spear the longbow was also lacquered to waterproof it. The length of the weapon was considerable, just over two metres, and was bent in the shape of a double curve. The bowstring was made from a fibrous substance originating from plants (usually hemp or ramie) and was coated with wax to give a hard smooth surface and in some cases it was necessary for two people to string the bow. It took a lot of training to be proficient with the longbow because of the strength needed to draw it.

Further Reading

Warriors of Medieval Japan - Stephen Turnbull