Ashigaru (足軽, "light of foot") were infantry employed by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The first known reference to ashigaru was in the 14th century,[1] but it was during the Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi period) that the use of ashigaru became prevalent by various warring factions.[2]
- ^ Warriors of Medieval Japan, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing, 2007 p.99
- ^ War in the early modern world, Jeremy Black, Taylor & Francis, 1999 p.59