An Indepth Look at Warfare in Medieval Japan in Joseph...

Joseph Conlans â€Å"State of War; The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan† is an depth look at Japans emerging warrior class during a time period of constant warfare in Medieval Japan. His work however doesn’t revolve around the re-fabrication and in-depth analysis of battles sieged like many contemporary examinations of wars and battles won and lost. Instead the author vies to navigate the reader on journey into the warrior class’s lives and how they evolved through a statistical analysis of records. This illustrates how warfare changed and transformed with the constant evolving of the Samurai, but it also includes how their actions affected their Political environment as well as the society in which they dwelled from the bottom up.†¦show more content†¦In the introduction, Conlan states; â€Å"War represents a process that encompasses all. Rather than merely hastening change on a static state and society, war creates its own particular and p eculiar order.† Nothing could be truer when looking at fourteenth century Japan. War for the Political figures represented an opportunity to further their control and power over society and the archepelego. For those in political office, such as the Taisho and Shugo it was an opportunity to increase or further their political and social economic benefits from their appointed positions. For the middle class such as the Tozama (and their followers the Miuchi), Gokenin, Myoshu and Hyakusho, who often had priority’s not only of Monetary gain but more in the ability to have the rights to their current land holdings confirmed and the opportunity to possibly expand their wealth through the acquisition of property from those of defeated enemies. Under whos command these warriors would fight to acquire such means was often of little significance to them, so as long as they were granted their lands as promised. Those leaders unwilling or unable to honor such agreements often found their forces diminishing, as family and clan overseer would often strike a new deal with the opposing forces leaders. Loyalty or â€Å"Chusetsu† as it was called was a hard thing to find when everyone was trying to survive or get ahead. In fact desertion for another’s army was so common that the word treason