Japanese Imported Arms of the Early Meiji Period-Book Review

[Brian]

Many collectors of Japanese swords and related items also have an interest in the firearms used during the times when Westernization was creeping into early Japan and the role of the sword was changing.

Those that think of Japanese firearms usually think of the Japanese matchlock, which was a design that remained relatively unchanged in Japan for hundreds of years. However with their exposure to the West, there are many other designs that found their way to the East and into Japanese hands.

I recently came into possession of a few new publications concerning Japanese arms and thought they may be of interest to the members here. Although not really sword related, they may be of huge interest to many members and contain much interesting data.

 

These books (totaling 4) are published and/or distributed through Francis C. Allan, with co-authors such as Chip Goddard, Takehito Jimbo, Doss H White, Harold W Macy and Dr Stanley Zielinsky. They form part of the Bazai Special projects, and can be sourced through Castle Thunder at http://www.castle-thunder.com/

The one that will mainly appeal to Samurai and Meiji Japanese era fans is the book "Japanese Imported Arms of the Early Meiji Era"

This is a 210 page soft cover book of high quality that contains lots of info never seen elsewhere. For firearms collectors, there is a surprising amount of fascinating info. The book begins with a brief history of Japanese political and military history and then goes into firearms in early Japan, spanning the eras from 1543 to the early 1900's. There is not a lot of detailed info on the early Tanegashima, but some excellent historical info and notes on topics such as the early arsenals and various Western arms imports into Japan.

An excellent timeline gives us information that was total news to me..such as the fact that the Choshu clan purchased thousands of ex US Civil War rifles and the Satsuma Han had 13,000 Enfield rifles.

Did anyone know that in 1854 the Satsuma Han purchased their own percussion cap manufacturing machinery? Or that their weapon of choice was the Sharps rifles and carbines?

 

There are many excellent and seldom seen photos of Meiji soldiers with non typical firearms. How about en early Meiji photo of a soldier carrying a katana, an Enfield rifle and a Colt 1851 Navy? Or a group of soldiers (samurai?) kneeling with wakizashi and a rack of Gewehr muskets behind them. Some very interesting stuff.

 

The bulk of the book then goes through various models and makes of firearms from this period in detail, with various Kanji inscriptions translated and photographed, and discussed. The book has sections on rifles and then handguns and a huge number of these are presented for the study of the reader.

I for one had no idea of the scope of these Western arms in Japan, and the interesting markings. Everything from Springfield rifles with arsenal marking through Austrian Werndl rifles and Belgian pin fires. Many of them with dates, arsenals or storehouse numbers.

In some cases, the firearms have been inlayed with mon or inspection stamps.

There appears to have been very little standardization and the variety of arms makes one wonder about the logistics of fielding so many different arms and calibers. I was fascinated to see a Japanese copy of a Colt 1851 signed "Made by Inoue Iori Fujiwara Michiaki" and also featuring an ultra rare Kamon on a percussion revolver.

 

Other chapters cover topics such as places of registration, US weapons presented to Japan and registration markings. There are some firearms accoutrements pictured and a wealth of documentary data.

 

There is also a good section on the Smith and Wesson revolvers which were an official Government import and were bulk imported in the middle to late 1800's. This topic also forms the entire theme for another book by Mr. Allan called "The Japanese Chose the Smith and Wesson" which is Banzai project #16 and concerns these purchases, and is a separate 70 page publication that is well worth purchasing.

 

For anyone with an interest in arms of Japan or firearms in general, these books would be a very worthwhile purchase and I thoroughly recommend them.

 

Beyond the scope of this forum, but worth mentioning, are the other 2 books concerning the Arisaka rifles? The one titled "The Type 38 Arisaka" looks to become the standard work on this subject. It concerns their actions, history and variations in detail. It has almost 500 ring bound pages of data, pictures and information on this subject and covers every aspect of these rifles. I can think of no information a collector could want that isn't covered. The other is a smaller 106 page book called "The Early Arisakas - A Study of the Japanese type 30 Rifles & Carbines, Naval Type 35 Rifles, Substitute Type 02/45 Rifles and their Variations"

 

All of these books can be bought from the author, or through http://www.castle-thunder.com/

 

My thanks to Mr. Allan for making these available for review. If my use of any of the pics is an issue, please let me know and they will be removed.

 

Brian

[Brian]

A few more pics:

[estcrh]

Brian, great information on a very interesting period of samurai history, the transition from the Edo period to the Meiji created a strange mix of traditional and modern equipment being used at the same time. Its nice to see some new research in English, thanks!

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Brian

 

Check this link if it works in S.A.:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ke_Glover/

 

It's a fascinating documentary about Thomas Blake Glover who dealt with Lord Shimazu and supplied the Satsuma with Firearms and machinery to manufacture.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blake_Glover

 

The BBC keep items on their iPlayer for a relatively short period of time so act swiftly.

 

Cheers