Nara period conflicts with Korea

[Algren-san]

I just bought Ritta Nakanishi's book "The History of Japanese Armor volume 1" and something has caught my attention. On several occasions the book mentions Japanese soldiers being sent to the korean peninsula during the Nara period and was wondering if anyone could elaborate on any of this. I have heard of the wars in the centuries prior but I was under the impression that warfare between korea and japan stopped for the most part after Baekche was defeated aside from pirate raids (well at least until Hideyoshi anyway).
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Pennsylvania is very unstable. I don't know how else to explain it.-My Japanese Teacher

[lordameth]

Hm. That was certainly my impression as well.
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[Bethetsu]

Mine too.
Reischaur says (East Asia: The Great Tradition, p. 485) that in the Nara period the Japanese took over the Chinese system of drafting peasants for the army, but except for some special defense areas on the Kyushu coast and along the border with the Ainu, they did not need the draft armies, so they soon degenerated into a sort of labor corps. That would suggest they were not sending armies to fight in Korea on any scale.

This changes the subject slightly, but I read that in the Nara period and early Heian, especially when they were fighting the Emeshi, there were lacquer factories in places like Taga Castle in Miyagi-ken and Misawa and Akita. "Lacquer was a necessity for making weapons." I would never have guessed that. This is obviously an elementary question, but how would lacquer be used?

[Algren-san]

Yeah I'm thinking that maybe the English and Japanese texts are different in book I have. I can't seem to find a reference to Korea in the Japanese text though my Japanese skills are rather poor and they may be using an older form of Korea (such as Shinra/ silla in kanji). There's also a picture of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in the book depicting him with a bright red beard so there's that.

As for the lacquer issue I'm not sure. That would be interesting to learn. Lacquer is an important component of armour and some accessories like scabbards but I'm not sure about its use in actual weapons.
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Pennsylvania is very unstable. I don't know how else to explain it.-My Japanese Teacher

[nagaeyari]

Lacquer was essential in hardening and securing organic materials and metals and can be seen in weapons and wooden armor since the yayoi period. It also served a decorative purpose, as well.

[shikisoku]