Samurai Heraldry

by Stephen Turnbull, Angus McBride (Illustrator)

Overview

The dazzling spectacle presented by the armies of medieval Japan owed much to the highly developed family and personal heraldry of samurai society. From simple personal banners, this evolved over centuries of warfare into a complex system of flags worn or carried into battle, together with the striking 'great standards' of leading warlords. While not regulated in the Western sense, Japanese heraldry developed as a series of widely followed practices, while remaining flexible enough to embrace constant innovation. Scores of examples, in monochrome and full colour, illustrate this fascinating explanation of the subject by a respected expert on all aspects of samurai culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782000143
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/20/2012
Series:	Elite , #82
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen Turnbull is a leading English language authority on medieval Japan and the samurai. He has travelled extensively in the Far East, particularly in Japan and Korea, and is the author of a number of major books on the subject. He has contributed several titles to the Osprey Military list since his original Men-at-Arms 86, Samurai Armies 1550-1615, in 1979.

Angus McBride, one of the world's most respected historical illustrators, has contributed to more than 70 Osprey titles. He worked in advertising agencies from 1947, and is a self-taught artist. In 1953 Angus emigrated to South Africa. He came back to the UK in 1961, and has worked freelance ever since. With his family he returned to South Africa in 1976, since when he has lived and worked in Cape Town.
Stephen Turnbull is the world's leading authority on samurai culture. He took his first degree at Cambridge and has two MAs (in Theology and Military History) from Leeds University. In 1996 he received a PhD from Leeds for his thesis on Japan's Kakure Kirishitan. In its published form the work won the Japan Festival Literary Award in 1998. Having lectured in East Asian Studies and Theology he is now retired and is an Honorary Lecturer at Leeds, a Research Associate at SOAS and Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Akita International University. He has published 73 books and many journal articles. His expertise was also put to use in helping design the award-winning computer strategy game Shogun Total War, and in 2010 he acted as Historical Adviser to Universal Pictures for the movie 47 Ronin. He is currently working on a major project tracing the historical evolution of the ninja as a cultural phenomenon.

Table of Contents

Appearance of mon as early as Nara period · 12th C Taira & Minamoto wars, hata-jirushi · 13th/14th Cs: the Mongol invasions period, 15th/16th Cs: heraldry carried on shields, nobori banners, sashimono flags attached to armour, maku screens · Army organisation produces system of coloured unit flags/symbols · Buddhist & Christian symbolism · Uma-jirushi commanders' flags · Tsukai-ban messenger corps: the horo displayed cloak · 17th C: the fully developed system of the early Edo period.