From 1585-1609, Toyotomi Hideyoshi led the Japanese Empire in expeditions to invade and conquer the small kingdoms and tribes in the islands south of the Imperial Japanese Mainland.
In 1585, Shikoku Island was occupied by the Japanese Empire in a campaign of imperial expansion led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi went to Shikoku with a large army and navy consisiting of 113,000 men and 703 battleships. By this time, the Japanese already had sail powered junk ships armed with large caliber arquebuses and cannons that were later called Red Seal Ships in 1592 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and even ironclad battleships called Atakebune and Atakemaru that were also armed with large caliber arquebuses and cannons which were designed and commissioned by Daimyo Oda Nobunaga and Fleet Admiral Mukai Shōgen Tadakatsu for Tokugawa Hidetada and Tokugawa Iemitsu. The Japanese also learned how to make gunpowder through trade with the Chinese Empire and possessed the following weapons:
Fire Gourd
Fire Lance
Muzzle Loading Hand Cannon Gun
Wick Fired Muzzle Loading Cannon
Howitzer
Mortar
Breech Loading Swivel Cannon
Wick Ignited Explosive Shell
Wick Ignited Hand Grenade
Smoke Bomb
Stink Bomb
Signal Flare
Coil Wick Ignited Landmine
Time Fused Water Mine
Multiple Rocket Launcher
Portable Multiple Rocket Launcher
Solid Shot Rocket
Solid Rocket Fuel
Rocket-Bomb
Multi-Stage Rocket
Matchlock Pistol
Matchlock Musket
Matchlock Arquebus
Matchlock Fire Arrow Arquebus
Fire Arrow Howitzer
Fire Arrow Mortar
Below is an image of a Japanese Red Seal Battleship:
Below is an image of a Japanese Atakebune Ironclad Battleship:
Below are images of Japanese Matchlock Muskets and Matchlock Arquebuses called Tanegashima:
Below are images of Japanese Matchlock Fire Arrow Arquebuses called Hiya Zutsu, Fire Arrow Howitzers called Bo-Hiya, and Fire Arrow Mortars called Hiya Taihou:
Below is an image of a Japanese Breech Loading Swivel Cannon:
Below is an image of a Japanese Wick Ignited Hand Grenade:
Within a span of only 3 months, the 113,000 Imperial Soldiers defeated a total of 40,000 soldiers coming from the small kingdoms and tribes in Shikoku Island.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi then launched an invasion of Kyushu in 1586-1587 and defeated the small kingdoms and tribes in the island, numbering 30,000 soldiers, with a superior force of 200,000 Imperial Soldiers armed with ordinance.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi again launched another invasion in 1609 of the small kingdom of Ryukyu in the southernmost tip of the Japanese archipelago. He went to the islands with a fleet of 100 battleships and 3,000 soldiers and defeated the technologically inferior Ryukyuans using ordinance.
After the conquest of the southern island kingdoms and tribes in Shikoku, Kyushu and Ryukyu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the confiscation of all of the weapons and armor of the enemy soldiers and prohibited the civilians of the occupied territories from possessing armor and weapons which include bladed close combat weapons such as daggers, swords, spears, and bladed staffs, projectile weapons such as reflex bows, guns, cannons, and rocket launchers, and explosives such as fire jars, grenades, smoke bombs, and landmines.
Because of the prohibition on owning any weapon and armor, the subjects of the small kingdoms and indigenous tribes developed martial arts to defend themselves without the aid of weapons and the protection of armor. This is where martial arts like, Aikido, Iaido, Judo, Karate, Kendo, Kyūdō, Shorinji, Kempo, and Sumo originated.
The Japanese Imperial Soldiers on the other hand trained in hand-to-hand combat and weapons techniques that were designed for killing opponents either unarmed or armed and only the personnel of the Imperial Government such as the Samurai, Ninja, and Shinsengumi were allowed to study these techniques, called Ko-budō, which include Battōjutsu, Bōjutsu, Hojōjutsu, Iaijutsu, Jōjutsu, Jujutsu, Jittejutsu, Kenjutsu, Kyūjutsu, Naginatajutsu, Ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, and Sōjutsu. During training the soldiers were dressed in lacquered armor which is comprised of helmets, face masks or grid iron face masks, breastplates, and hip guards, and underneath the armor they wore silk coats, britches, and boots.
Below are images of Prince Yamato Takeru in Imperial Uniform:
Below is an image of the Imperial Japanese Soldiers wearing the Imperial Uniform with lacquered armor and firing Tanegashima Guns:
By the time of the invasion of the southern islands, the Japanese had upgraded their factory mills and now had watermills and windmills in addition to their water scoop mills which allowed them to mass produce goods at an even greater scale. Aside from forge mills used to mass produce metal, sawmills used to mass produce wood, stamp mills used to process mined ore, fullers used to make wool textiles, and pottery mills used to make pottery, the Japanese now had the following mill factories:
Noodle Extruder - used for mass producing noodles.
Smokehouse - used for mass producing smoked food that does not easily spoil.
Spinning Wheel - used to spin fabrics for mass producing textiles.
Hammer Mill - used for mass producing clay, stone, metal and other materials.
Hulling Mill - used for hulling rice.
Gristmill - used for grinding grains into flour.
Ore Mill - used for processing ore.
Bellow - used for blowing air into blast furnaces.
Paper Mill - used for mass producing paper.
Hand Hulling Mill - a portable device for hulling rice.
Hand Gristmill - a portable device for grinding grains.
Edge Mill - uses a rolling stone revolving around a central power shaft to grind various materials. It is especially useful for mass producing oil from plant and animal parts.
Oil Mill - uses an edge mill to mass produce oil.
Below is a video of a Noodle Extruder in action:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Peng_Zhou.ogv
Below is an image of a Japanese Watermill:
Below is an image of Japanese Windmill:
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Shikoku_(1585)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%ABsh%C5%AB_campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Ryukyu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_seal_ships
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atakebune
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanegashima_(gun)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo-hiya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongtong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_arrow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_lance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_of_Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobud%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_Takeru
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chines...les#Production
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._panoramio.jpg
https://twitter.com/PeterIntheswim/s...52233645293568 (Japanese Windmill)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cd-V7MfXIAESFkt.jpg (Japanese Windmill)
https://www.windmillworld.com/world/japan.htm
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