Seeing how the bow and arrow was the weapon of choice in ancient japan, why did they never use shields? 'Most other societies used them at that time.
This question was asked before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/x8rtx/why_didnt_the_samurai_use_shields/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/voutd/why_were_shields_so_much_more_prevalent_in/
They were used, but abandoned during Edo period. Most of the Japanese warfare was based on weapons and techniques which are used by utilizing both hands, making shield-carrying impossible.