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Japanese ashigaru firing hinawajū.Night-shooting practice, using ropes to maintain proper firing elevation. Tanegashima (), most often called in Japanese and sometimes in English hinawajū (火縄銃, "matchlock gun"), was a type of matchlock-configured [1] arquebus [2] firearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese Empire in 1543. [3]
Japan was at war during the Sengoku period between 1467 and 1600, as feudal lords vied for supremacy. [8] Matchlock guns were used extensively and had a decisive role in warfare. In 1549, Oda Nobunaga ordered 500 matchlocks to be made for his armies. The benefits of firearms were still relatively questionable however compared with other weapons.
In Japan, matchlocks continued to see military use up to the mid-19th century. In China, matchlock guns were still being used by imperial army soldiers in the middle decades of the 19th century. [21] There is evidence that matchlock rifles may have been in use among some peoples in Christian Abyssinia in the late Middle Ages.
Ashigaru wearing armor and jingasa firing tanegashima (Japanese matchlocks). Ashigaru (足軽, "light of foot") were infantry employed by the samurai class of feudal Japan.The first known reference to ashigaru was in the 14th century, [1] but it was during the Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi period) that the use of ashigaru became prevalent by various warring factions.
Antique Japanese matchlock (tanegashima), showing the firing mechanism. Note the V-shaped mainspring. The snap matchlock is a type of matchlock mechanism used to ignite early firearms. It was used in Europe from about 1475 to 1640, and in Japan from 1543 until about 1880, and was also largely used by Korea (Joseon) during the Imjin war to the ...
These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 15th century. [2] The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, [3] and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger.
The first Japanese matchlock guns were designed by the Japanese after Tanegashima Tokitaka bought two matchlock guns from Portuguese adventurers who were aboard a Chinese junk ship in Tanegashima. Within ten years of its introduction, over 300,000 tanegashima firearms were reported to have been manufactured. [4]
The arrival of guns in Japan in 1543 greatly increased the capability of the ashigaru units on the battlefield. Prior to the introduction of firearms, these men would often have to wield polearms and spears like yari or learn to fight with swords and bows. The matchlock, or tanegashima by comparison was easier to use. It did not rely on ...