Yaita Kinbei: Game Changer Swordsmith Of Japan’s Sengoku Period
Fig. Tanegashima Hinawajyu Arquebus.(Tanegashima Hinawajyu ・ Japanese: 種子島火縄銃 ) this The Arquebus is in the Portugal Pavilion in Expo 2005 Aichi Japan. Photo by GnsinCourtesy https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arquebus.jpg The history of samurai is fascinating. I've described aspects of samurai history in my blog [1-9]. However, the history of Japan is not solely the history of samurai. Samurai made up only a small portion of the population. I've always wanted to explore the history of people other than samurai. In [10], I discussed Kasuke, the leader of the 1686 peasant uprising who sacrificed himself and his family. This blog post describes Yaita Kinbei (1502 CE - 1570 CE), a swordsmith. One of the main reasons I describe this swordsmith is that he changed the course of Japan’s Sengoku period (Warring States period, 15th century-16th century CE). There are several theories about how muskets arrived in Japan. The following is one of them: On August 25, 154