The ashigaru were the foot soldiers of old Japan. Although recruited first to swell an army's numbers and paid only by loot, the samurai began to realise their worth, particularly with arquebuses and spears, until well-trained ashigaru made up a vital part of any samurai army. This book tells the story of the ashigaru for the first time, drawing on previously untranslated Japanese sources and with illustrations that show ashigaru as sailors and catapult artillery men as well as the disciplined ranks that they had become.