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Why didn't infantrymen in Feudal Japan use shields?

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But getting back to the question (finally), shields were used in ancient Japan but fell out of favour. I think the main reason for this was the predilection of Japanese warriors for two handed weapons, most notably the spear and bow. read more

Firstly, metal was relatively more expensive in Japan than medieval Europe. Therefore, what metal they had tended to be worked to higher quality and used in offensive weapons. It would have been seen as wasteful to the Japanese to use metal on a shield, since it could be made into something much more valuable: a weapon. read more

TL;DR: 1) In Japan, sword fighting comes from spear fighting techniques. 2) Furthermore, using the sword as mainly a duelling and self defense weapon, the use of the shield wasn't so favoured. 3) Japan lacked hellenistic and roman influence, which was huge in case of Europe. read more

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