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Ronin - Armour and 'heraldry'; Did Ronin use Armour and heraldry?
Topic Started: Apr 6 2017, 11:54 AM (486 Views)
Nolan
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Vagrant
Dear Sir,

I'm very green on this geo-history area.
So I would like to know if ronin used samurai armour and which 'heraldry' did they use, if any.

Thank you.
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Dickjutsu
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Artisan
One issue you're going to deal with in answering your question is this:
Ronin could include a lot of people of varying technical aspects. Some ronin were wealthy (by ronin standards at least), owning dojos and teaching the children and retainers of daimyo or their still-employed samurai. Some starved to death by the side of the road.

Take for example, Sanada Yukimura. Technically speaking he was a ronin during the Osaka campaign, because by that point in time he had been deprived of his family's lands and titles and exiled. He fought in full armor and had an army.
A few decades later you have the Keian Jiken where ronin who were unable to afford to live caused an uprising against the Shogunate because they were desperate; starving, hated, and with limitation put on them so they couldn't find legitimate employment in many cases.

The easy answer of course is: Yes, if they could afford it.
Many samurai who became Ronin and were able to keep their possessions were known to sell them off. In the Edo period it was not unheard of for ronin to sell their katana and buy a cheap bamboo replica to give the impression they still carried a sword. Some even sword the smaller sword, the wakizashi.

As far as heraldry, I would imagine so, yes. They would continue to utilize the kamon, the family crest, of their respective family or even they may use a mon that their patron would grant them in the case of ronin employed by samurai houses (like in the instance of mercenaries or the aforementioned kenjutsu instructor), although that would be a lot rarer, I imagine. Hard to imagine a samurai giving a ronin the rights to a mon, but not giving him a job.
Richard C. Shaffer
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Nolan
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Vagrant
Dickjutsu,

thank you for your help
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