Are there any records of Japanese peasants or lower class mastering

>>3011047
Due to how much labor and material (read: really fucking expensive) is required to make a sword, especially with Japanese iron, I doubt a Japanese peasant could ever own a sword.

>>3011047
Swordmanship? lol no, a spear is a better weapon for a peasant to have

>>3011059
>>3011064
Well becoming a pain for samurai to deal with still stands. Any noteworthy Japanese peasant rebels?

Before the sword hunts by Hideyoshi a lot of swords were floating around as inheritances for wealthier farmers or loot from battles Ashigaru fought in, the sword hunt was to prevent exactly what you're talking about when the class system became fixed and social mobility restricted

>>3011071
Shocho, Ikko-Ikki, Chichibu, Shimabara but that was more about religion

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>>3011047
Many of the most famous swordsman of the edo period were born as peasants or merchants.

Contrary to popular opinion, most Japanese dojo were machi dojo, and there were not nearly enough samurai to keep them in business. These dojo were filled with townspeople. By the end of the edo period the class system had started to break down and there were lots of people running around wearing swords without any legal right to do so.

Likewise merchants and wealthy farmers had more money than many samurai and had the resources to spend leisure time studying swordsmanship

Some of these men were good enough to gain samurai status either through adoption or recruitment into a government militia

>>3011047
Not exactly a master swordsman but Hideyoshi Toyotomi went from being a shitty peasant sandal bearer to samurai general to defacto ruler of Japan.

>>3011059
That's what looting battlefields and banditry is for, anon.

>>3011059
There were lots of cheap swords available, and some peasants were wealthier than samurai given they could directly own land. (during the edo period samurai could not)

In addition some peasants had the right to bear arms depending on their social standing and how much banditry was in the area

>>3011177
>Kondo Isami
>Went from farmer to Commander of the Shinsengumi because he beat some thieves that tried to steal his crop
Crazy stuff. Any other peoples in particular? I know of Hideyoshi.

>>3011177
Pretty much the same happened in Europe during the late middle ages. Most of the schools of swordsmanship - even though they claimed their arts to be 'knightly' (for marketing reasons possibly) - were firmly in the hand of bourgeois commoners from the cities.

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>>3011708
Many but only a few names come to the top of my head without looking them up. Kondo's close assoicate Hijikata was not born a samurai, most of the shinsengumi were either low ranked samurai or nonsamurai.

Chiba Shusaku's family were originally peasants but were ennobled, I think during is grandfathers time for their sword skill. I think the founder of Honma nen ryu and most of his students were of peasant stock, as were most swordsmen of the maniwa nen ryu. The vast majority of prominent swordsmen during the edo period were either form peasant stalk or lower ranking samurai

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>>3011753
Roger that, thanks.
What are good books to read or documentaries to watch to get better educated on Japanese history?

>>3011760
Depends on the period. If your interest is the history of Japanese swordsmanship however Friday, Bennett, Hurst, David hall, and Amdur are good sources