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Firearms appeared in Japan around 1270, as primitive metal tubes invented in China and called teppō (鉄砲 lit. "iron cannon"). [3] [1] These weapons were very basic, as they had no trigger or sights, and could not be compared to the more advanced European weapons which were introduced in Japan more than 250 years later. [3]
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]
In 1543, the Japanese acquired matchlock technology from the Portuguese, and the resulting firearms developed by the Japanese led to new means of launching fire arrows. These rocket-type bo-hiya had the appearance of a thick arrow with large fins, a wood shaft and a metal tip; they resembled the Korean chongtong , an arrow-firing cannon. [ 3 ]
While many cannons were imported by Europeans, numerous examples were also manufactured locally. Quick-firing breech-loading swivel guns, were also used and manufactured by Japan. Such guns were in use in Western warships, and mounted at the bow and sterns to devastating effect, but the Japanese used them also in fortifications. [5]
Kanabō-type weapons came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes; though the largest ones were as tall as a man, on average they measured roughly 55" in length. The Kanabō was typically intended for two-handed use, though one-handed versions exist which are more usually referred to as tetsubō and ararebō.
[9] [25] [26] Iron knives and axes, followed by bronze swords, spears and mirrors, were brought to Japan from Korea and China. [26] [27] Later all of these were produced locally. [28] The primary artistic artifacts, with the exception of Yayoi pottery, are bronze weapons, such as swords, halberds and dōtaku, ritual bells. [25]
Military action by Japan in China and Russia during the Meiji period helped revive interest in swords, but it was not until the Shōwa period that swords were produced on a large scale again. [52] Japanese military swords produced between 1875 and 1945 are referred to as guntō (military swords). [53] Type 95, World War II era guntō
The chigiriki (契木) is a Japanese flail weapon. It consists of a solid or hollow wood (sometimes bamboo) or iron staff with an iron weight and chain on the end, sometimes retractable. The chigiriki is a more aggressive variation of the parrying weapon kusarigama. It can be used to strike or entangle the opponent as well as to parry his blows ...