The Military Component and its Role in the History of the Japanese State and Society: The Specifics of the Japanese Military System in the 7th–9th Centuries

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of the military component underlying the functioning of the Japanese state in the 7th–9th centuries. It was during this period that military houses appeared in Japan, and military service began to be perceived as one of the most important government functions. The recruitment of the armed forces was based on universal conscription. As part of the most important government codes, the Military Defense Law for the first time in Japan laid the foundation for the formation of the institution of universal conscription. In this regard, it is extremely interesting to trace how much the Japanese recruitment system coincided and whether it coincided at all with the Chinese one. Created at the turn of the 7th–8th centuries the army recruitment system was a complex phenomenon, which was undoubtedly a progressive step towards the formation and development of the Japanese state. However, despite all the progressiveness of this system, which was borrowed by the Japanese from China, in the conditions of Japanese reality (exorbitant burden for peasants and the absence of enemies) it turned out to be unnecessary and by the 9th century it was replaced by “private” formations. However, the fact that this system, with minimal changes, was taken as the basis of the Japanese Imperial Army in the second half of the 19th century and existed until 1945, speaks of its advanced character and enormous historical significance.

Keywords:

Japanese armed forces, gumboryo, gundan, universal conscription