Japanese Village: UD 11/6 First batch of bandits WIP

[Silent Invader]

INDEX

P.1 Village planning
P.2 Mon for the forces
P.2 The Seven Samurai minis WIP
P.3 Village layout WIP
P.3 First batch of bandits WIP


I’ve a new project on the go, which is a late 16thC Japanese rural village. Obviously (obviously!) I have The Seven Samurai village as a starting point.

The top plan is from an analysis of the movie while the bottom plan is from a scenario in Wargames Illustrated No.188 of May 2003:



I’m not planning the full village (nor am I setting it in the mountains) and while the scenario suggestion has all the elements, it is perhaps a tad too small. The village will be on a big base with a central track and fenced gardens to each property.  To kick things off, I’ve bought a few of the lovely resin buildings from OSHIROmodelterrain, namely 4 houses and a rice store. I also have a toilet to add and I’m contemplating a few more houses and the smithy. If I add the mill it will be as a separate terrain piece.

This isn’t a layout I’m committed to but it gives an idea (I realise it’s not clear where the access - attack - points between the properties would be):



I have a few questions:

1) Would the outdoor toilet/s (for collection of waste for use as fertiliser) be a community resource and would I be right to place it/them at the edge of the village close to the paddy fields?

2) Would the grain store be a community resource and would it be located within the village, at the edge of the village or outside towards the paddy fields?

3) I believe I’ve read that the residence of the village headman would have a verandah, which was a symbol of status. If I simply added a verandah to a large house would that be enough to create such a residence? Presumably this residence is located towards the centre of the village.

4) Would such a village have a straight through-road or would there be a central area, where people could gather?

5) Would such a small village have a religious shrine?

6) Is there anything I’m missing?

[robh]

I will be following your progress closely, I have the same thing planned for this year but in 15mm.

This is the movie set which was purpose built to aid filming.



You can see the veranda on the headman's house.

[Silent Invader]

Thanks very much Rob, that is extremely useful in very many ways 

Regarding the headman’s house, not only a verandah but it’s also significantly larger than the other properties (with an attic level?). I wonder how historically correct the size is, or whether it was overstated for cinematic purposes.

[commissarmoody]

I am sure there are a few old style villages around in Japan, that you might be able to pull some ideas from. I'll do a look myself.

[Silent Invader]

I am sure there are a few old style villages around in Japan, that you might be able to pull some ideas from. I'll do a look myself.

Thanks. I did find photo reports of ‘traditional’ villages,  which are  beautifully kept, but unfortunately I couldn’t discern all the answers I’m looking for. 

[Malamute]

Annnnnd he's off....

Looking forward to seeing it come together

[Silent Invader]

Annnnnd he's off....

Looking forward to seeing it come together

It’s another village project  (And I have others in the queue  )

[OSHIROmodels]

A solid start 

1) Would the outdoor toilet/s (for collection of waste for use as fertiliser) be a community resource and would I be right to place it/them at the edge of the village close to the paddy fields?

Yes they would although the local lord would usually have first dibs (given that the people living in the villages were his vassals/tenants). Now, I’m not completely sure about this but an educated guess would be that the ‘humanure’ would smell less than it does today because of the lack of processed food, placing them in between plots (two houses sharing one) would be acceptable I reckon.

2) Would the grain store be a community resource and would it be located within the village, at the edge of the village or outside towards the paddy fields?

Again, the lord would have first dibs and there would be a collection of rice from each village (good idea for a scenario). It would be communal as most of the village effort was in rice production. From what I’ve seen, the location was generally behind the houses/plots with the rice paddies extending behind and to the sides of the village.

Here’s the wiki entry on ‘Koku’

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koku

3) I believe I’ve read that the residence of the village headman would have a verandah, which was a symbol of status. If I simply added a verandah to a large house would that be enough to create such a residence? Presumably this residence is located towards the centre of the village.

Yes, generally it would and as you say, it was a status symbol with various uses (making petitioners wait outside etc). For the smaller villages it would be in the rough centre, for larger ones it could be set back from the road and potentially have a wall round it but I think that’s probably going to grand for your project.

Adding a veranda would potentially work.

It’s also a good reminder to finish off the headsman’s house master I started ages ago

4) Would such a village have a straight through-road or would there be a central area, where people could gather?

Generally it would be a straight road (or a ‘Y’ junction) and for smaller villages, no real open space for gatherings would be needed. Any messages from the local lord would either be given straight to the headsman to be passed on or if in times of war or emergency the rider/runner could just shout it whilst going through onto the next village. Larger villages could have a notice board but I think yours is too small for that. You could still get one though 

5) Would such a small village have a religious shrine?

Potentially, but it wouldn’t be that close to the village itself (in general)  For this sort of ground scale, the village at one end and the shrine at the other would do.

6) Is there anything I’m missing?

Depends what you’re after 

[commissarmoody]

Well from my experience having to walk thru paddy fields in Afghanistan, would say no.
They do smell just as bad then, As they do today.
Got to factor in all the parasites, bacteria and other fun things people have rolling around in their guts. Now lets factor in people who might not always have access to the best hygiene and or cleanest of drinking water to.
 I mean that was one of the 3 distinct smells that brings me back to Afghanistan, the smell of human and animal waste. The 3rd being burning waste.
Also I'll point out that is one thing the old Korean war vets I talk to mention, was the smell of the fields in the summer heat. 

But if you live around it all the time, you just get used to it.

[Hu Rhu]

Wow,  I can't believe you are starting another major project, whilst still finishing off the last one......... Oh its Silent Invader ......of course I can believe it.   

This looks great already.  I don't often visit this board but I'm glad I popped over today. 

[FierceKitty]

There's a skansen, to use the Czech term, just outside Takayama. Well worth visiting.

https://www.google.com/travel/things-to-do/see-all?g2lb=2502548%2C4215767%2C4258168%2C4260007%2C4270442%2C4274032%2C4291318%2C4305595%2C4306835%2C4317915%2C4328159%2C4329288%2C4356223%2C4364503%2C4366684%2C4367953%2C4369397%2C4373848%2C4385383%2C4386664%2C4270859%2C4284970%2C4291517%2C4316256%2C4356899&hl=en&gl=th&un=1&otf=1&dest_mid=%2Fm%2F01wl13&dest_state_type=sattd&dest_src=ts&tcfs=EgsKCS9tLzAxd2wxMw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ9ZqCw7XpAhWg6nMBHSJzCmUQ69EBKAMwAHoECBcQCQ#ttdm=36.050782_137.455591_9&ttdmf=%252Fm%252F0cqf8j

[Silent Invader]

That’s a ton of usefulness James, thank you very much 

Interesting point about poo. I did once read that we Europeans smell ‘sour’ to the unacquainted, because of the amount of dairy in our diets. Though I think I’m going to need a few more Kawaya 

Kura positioning all makes sense 

You’re right that I’d prefer not to have a wall around the headman’s house. Also, if you’re making one that’s not too grand then perhaps I should wait ..... 

Btw, I found another photo (thanks to RobH for the inspiration) of the movie set that shows the ‘big house’ at the centre of the village.



Not having a wall would be in keeping with the movie, though I’ve changed tack slightly by going for a rural village rather than a mountain village.

Regarding open space within the village, I’m wondering if that was a device for the movie so as to facilitate the fight scenes. That said, IIRC the more recent 13 Assassins lacked such a clearing, with the fighting being along the straight through-road. I’m tempted to go with the straight road, as a third access point could be a minor thoroughfare to the Kura and to the paddy fields.

I think I read somewhere that you’re contemplating making a rural religious shrine, which if so I will likely add at some later stage as an adjacent piece (like the mill).

Ta! 

[Silent Invader]

There's a skansen, to use the Czech term, just outside Takayama. Well worth visiting.

Thank you, I’ll take a good look at the pictures 

[Silent Invader]

Thanks for the other comments too, though I don’t plan on adding ‘smell-o-rama’ to the scenic set up.    And yes Gary, I’m at it again 

[Poiter50]

Scratch and sniff?

Thanks for the other comments too, though I don’t plan on adding ‘smell-o-rama’ to the scenic set up.    And yes Gary, I’m at it again