Kneeling Ashigaru Archer

By 1600, the matchlock musket had largely replaced the bow as the primary missile weapon of Japanese armies — but the bow had not gone away. The Japanese yumi, an asymmetric longbow with the grip below the center, was still the weapon of choice for sustained indirect fire (the high arcing volleys that thinned an enemy formation before close combat), for wet weather when matchlock powder failed, and for the precision shooting that musket smoothbores couldn't match at distance. A Sengoku-era army deployed its archer ashigaru in tight ranks alongside the matchlocks, often kneeling in the front row to clear the line of fire for the standing musketeers behind them. At Sekigahara, both armies brought thousands of yumi-ashigaru into the line.

This figure is a Western Army ashigaru archer in the kneeling firing position — bow drawn, arrow nocked, eye on the target. He wears the same body armour as the standing archer in this series — lacquered cuirass with the yellow daimyo's crest, padded yellow sleeves, red-and-white hakama, blue tabi sandals — but with the addition of the jingasa, the conical lacquered war hat that gave the rank-and-file ashigaru basic protection against downward blows and weather. Clan and unit crests were painted at the front of each hat, and a cloth sunscreen hangs from the back to shield the neck and shoulders. He pairs naturally with the Western Army standing archer reaching for an arrow — together the two figures form an archer firing-line scene, one drawing while the other reaches for his next arrow — and with the broader K&C Sekigahara 1600 series.

1/30 scale, matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number SW003. As with the rest of the King & Country range, the painting captures period detail intended to read well in display.