The Japanese use of cannon

[AggonyDuck]

I think one of the reasons why cannons never really catched on among the daimyo of the Sengoku era was that Japanese castle design made cannons rather ineffective tools. Japanese castles were essentially carved on hilltops with a thick stone base making up most of the wall and at the top you'd see a small wall made of bamboo and wood covered with plaster. A cannon couldn't really damage the base due to it resting on earth and the wooden wall at the top wasn't exactly the easiest target to hit, and even then a breach could easily be repaired. The only real use for a cannon would be damaging gatehouses, towers and the keep in addition to other buildings. The resources spent on cannons would usually be better spent on muskets due to their usefulness at both sieges and field battles.

[HKagemusha]

I think one of the reasons why cannons never really catched on among the daimyo of the Sengoku era was that Japanese castle design made cannons rather ineffective tools. Japanese castles were essentially carved on hilltops with a thick stone base making up most of the wall and at the top you'd see a small wall made of bamboo and wood covered with plaster. A cannon couldn't really damage the base due to it resting on earth and the wooden wall at the top wasn't exactly the easiest target to hit, and even then a breach could easily be repaired. The only real use for a cannon would be damaging gatehouses, towers and the keep in addition to other buildings. The resources spent on cannons would usually be better spent on muskets due to their usefulness at both sieges and field battles.

No actually cannons were quite popular for sieges as a method to end sieges far quicker. Bursting through outter walls, demoralizing enemy troops, and frightening enemy cavalry made them widely popular. The reason they weren't so widely embraced during the early-mid sengoku era is cultural. Oda Nobunaga gained a huge advantage over his rivals by quickly embracing the idea. As you can clearly see the idea then caught on with other daimyo, but not before the end of the oda and hideyoshi regimes