ABSTRACT
During the centuries preceding the arrival of Europeans, Japanese nobles favored a long sword that was worn with the cutting edge slung down from the hip. By the sixteenth-century this tachi was superseded in popularity by the katana. People carved everything from statues of the Goddess of Mercy to prayer beads. Because the focus of this chapter is weapons and war, Frois presumably was not deprecating Japanese technology but praising the quality of Japanese blades and the skill of Japanese workers. Originally, Japanese spear shafts were made of natural wood, but during the sixteenth-century it was common to cover the wood with black lacquer, mother-of-pearl, or vermillion; the last was retricted to those who had distinguished themselves in battle. Cannon and artillery proved particularly valuable in siege warfare in fifteenth century Europe and were used with great success by Portugal's King Afonso in his 'conquest' of Morocco.
