The Battle of Nagashino: Oda Nobunaga and The Matchlock Change Samurai Warfare Forever

The Battle of Nagashino in 1575 was a pivotal clash during Japan's Sengoku period of civil wars. Oda Nobunaga's innovative use of tanegashima matchlock muskets was instrumental in defeating the formidable cavalry forces of the Takeda clan.

Nobunaga deployed around 3,000 arquebusiers armed with the tanegashima, an early matchlock musket introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders. He arranged them in a revolutionary rotating volley fire formation behind wood palisades, allowing continuous firepower against the Takeda's feared cavalry charge.

The tanegashima's firepower at Nagashino decimated the Takeda's mounted samurai, who were unaccustomed to such weaponry.


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This victory marked the rise of Nobunaga and the beginning of Japan's unification under the Tokugawa shogunate. It exemplified how the tanegashima's introduction impacted Japanese warfare tactics and helped end the Sengoku period.

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