Ashigaru were Japanese foot soldiers who served alongside mounted samurai in medieval and early modern armies.
The term literally means “light feet,” reflecting their role as lightly equipped infantry. Early ashigaru were often commoners recruited temporarily for campaigns, but powerful warlords increasingly organized them into trained, disciplined units.
During the Sengoku period, ashigaru became especially important because large armies required substantial infantry forces. Some carried spears, while others used bows or matchlock firearms. Oda Nobunaga famously employed coordinated firearm units at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575.
Ashigaru were not simply synonymous with samurai. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, social boundaries hardened, and hereditary samurai status became distinct from the status of ordinary foot soldiers. The neighboring term “rōnin” instead means a masterless samurai, not an infantryman.