![Description of swivel breech loading gun Japanese](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Description_of_swivel_breech_loading_gun_Japanese.jpg)
Artillery in Japan was first used during the
Sengoku period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
in the 16th century; and its use has continued to develop.
History
13th to 17th century
![Oozutsu cannon Japan 16th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Oozutsu_cannon_Japan_16th_century.jpg)
Due to its proximity with China, Japan had long been familiar with gunpowder. Primitive cannons seem to have appeared in Japan around 1270, as simple metal tubes invented in China and called ''Teppō'' (鉄砲 Lit. "Iron cannon"). They don't seem to have been used extensively however, and cannon usage would only become major after the
arrival of the Portuguese in 1543.
A few light
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
pieces were used at the
Battle of Nagashino
The took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan. Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for taki ...
in 1575, but the first cannons entirely made by the Japanese were cast a few months after the battle. They were
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
two-pounders, about 9 feet long, and were delivered to the warlord
Oda Nobunaga
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan.
Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...
.
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.
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.
After 1601 and the reunification of Japan under
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
and the establishment of the
Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
, a policy of
seclusion
Seclusion is the act of secluding (i.e. isolating from society), the state of being secluded, or a place that facilitates it (a secluded place). A person, couple, or larger group may go to a secluded place for privacy or peace and quiet. The se ...
was progressively enforced, leading to the expulsion of foreigner and the interdiction of trade with Western countries other than the Dutch from 1631.
Meiji restoration and modern era
![CanetGun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/CanetGun.jpg)
Following the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
, Japan would pursue a policy of "Rich country, strong army" (富国強兵), which led to a general rearmament of the country. During the 1877
Satsuma rebellion
The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and b ...
artillery was widely deployed, and an average of 1,000 artillery shells were fired every day.
[Perrin, p.76] Makeshift wooden cannons were again seen on the "rebel" side of this conflict,
and during popular upheavals in 1884.
Japanese artillery would then be used effectively during the
Sino-Japanese war (1894–1895), and the
Russo-Japanese war
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
of 1905.
The
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
enjoyed a spectacular development, allowing for the implementation of ever-larger artillery pieces. The Imperial Navy was the world's first to mount guns (in
''Kongō''), guns (in ), and only the second Navy ever to mount
guns (in the
''Yamato'' class).
[In Evans, ''Kaigun'']
Before and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Japan deployed a variety of artillery pieces, such as the heavy
Type 89 15 cm Cannon
The Type 89 15 cm cannon was the main gun of the Imperial Japanese Army's heavy artillery units. The ''Type 89'' designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the year 2589 of the Japanese calendar (1929).War Department Special Seri ...
or the
Type 96 15 cm Howitzer (1936) .
Gallery
File:Oda Nobunaga swivel breech loading gun.jpg, A breech-loading swivel gun of Sengoku
The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various ...
era. This gun is thought to have been cast in Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, India and used by famous Christian daimyo Ōtomo Sōrin
, also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原 義鎮) and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友 義鎮), was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism (Christianity). The eldest son of , he ...
. Caliber: 95mm, length: 2880mm
File:Yuan chinese gun.jpg, A bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
hand cannon
The hand cannon (Chinese: 手 銃 ''shŏuchòng'', or 火 銃 ''huŏchòng''), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms as well as the most mecha ...
that is thought to be originated from China.
File:KoishikawaArtillery1882.jpg, Japanese artillery unit, at the Koishikawa
is a district of Bunkyo, Tokyo. It consists of five sub-areas, . In Koishikawa are located two well regarded gardens: the Koishikawa Botanical Garden (operated by the University of Tokyo) in Hakusan, and the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden in Kōra ...
arsenal, Tokyo, in 1882. Photographed by Hugues Krafft
Hugues Krafft (1853 – 1935) was a photographer born in Paris. He travelled around the world, and visited Japan in 1882–1883. He left numerous quality photographs of the period.
He was among the first to use instantaneous photography in Japa ...
File:Model 89 15cm heavy gun Japan.jpg, Japan's main heavy artillery unit during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Type 89 15 cm Cannon
The Type 89 15 cm cannon was the main gun of the Imperial Japanese Army's heavy artillery units. The ''Type 89'' designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the year 2589 of the Japanese calendar (1929).War Department Special Seri ...
File:Model 96 (1936) 15cm howitzer Japan.jpg, Model 96 (1936) 15cm howitzer
See also
*
Firearms of Japan
Firearms
were introduced to Japan in the 13th century by the Chinese, but saw little use. Portuguese firearms were introduced in 1543, and intense development followed, with strong local manufacture during the period of conflicts of the late 16t ...
*
Korean cannon
Cannons appeared in Korea by the mid 14th century during the Goryeo, Goryeo dynasty and quickly proliferated as naval and fortress-defense weapons. Major developments occurred throughout the 15th century, including the introduction of large siege m ...
*
List of artillery weapons of the Imperial Japanese Navy This is a list of heavy artillery weapons of the Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II.
Anti tank guns
*Type 94 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun
* Model 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun
* Type 1 37 mm Anti-Tank Gun
* Type 1 47 mm Anti-Tank Gun
Light anti-aircraft gun
* T ...
Notes
References
* Evans, David C &
Peattie, Mark R. (1997). ''Kaigun: strategy, tactics, and technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941'' Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland
*
Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 44090600* Perrin, Noel. (1979). ''Giving up the Gun, Japan's reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879.'' Boston: David R. Godine.
* Totman, Conrad. (1980). ''Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862-1868'' Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
External links
{{Japanese (samurai) weapons, armour and equipment
Samurai weapons and equipment