The Osaka Arsenal was a state weapons factory of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

during the period from 1870 to 1945. In the Meiji period, the self-supply of the armed forces with modern weapons was a high concern for the government. The Japanese military leader

Ōmura Masujirō was a Japanese military leader and theorist in Bakumatsu period Japan. He was the "Father" of the Imperial Japanese Army, launching a modern military force closely patterned after the French system of the day. Early life and education Ōmura ...

proposed to build a garrison with gun and ammunition production facilities at

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

. The central location of Osaka favored transport routes over land and water. Although Ōmura was the victim of an attack in November 1869, his proposal was nevertheless accepted. In February 1870, an office for weapons production ( 造兵司 , Zōheishi ) was established and in March of the year, the first employees moved into an empty rice warehouse in the northeastern part of the castle Osaka. This was the birth of the Osaka Arsenal. Machines and workers came mainly from the Nagasaki Iron Works. 1871 was renamed the "Office for weapons production Osaka" ( 大阪造兵司 , Ōsaka Zōheishi ), 1872 in "Osaka Factory" ( 大砲製造所 , Ōsaka Seizōsho ), 1875 in "Artillery Office of the 2nd Artillery Military District " ( 砲兵第二方面内砲兵支廠 , Hōhei Daini Hōmennai Hōhei Shishō ) and finally in 1879 in "Artillery Osaka" as state production center for guns and grenades, while the Arsenal Tokyo was production center for handguns. During the

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 beca ...

in 1877, the Arsenal was very active to meet the high demand. Other wars such as the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

(1894–1895) and

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 ...

(1904–1905) allowed the arsenal to increase, so that it captured the entire eastern side of the castle grounds. The staff strength fluctuated strongly; During times of crisis many workers were hired, and then released. This led to tensions with the workforce, especially in December 1906 after the Russo-Japanese War and in October 1919 after the First World War . During the Pacific War, the workforce of the Arsenal grew steadily, reached over 60,000 employees and developed into one of the largest military factories in the Empire. Towards the end of the war, however, the production yield sank due to material and labor shortages. Osaka became the target of American air strikes from 1945 ; the arsenal was initially only slightly damaged. On August 14, 1945, a day before the capitulation of Japan. However, there was a devastating air raid that destroyed 90% of the arsenal. The death toll on the arsenal site is relatively low at 382 dead, as most of the workers, with the exception of air defense, left the area after the air alarm. The death toll outside the arsenal site is unknown. With the end of the Pacific War, the 75-year history of the Arsenal came to an end. After the war, the extensive grounds were partially overbuilt by commercial high-rise buildings, and partly used as a park (

Park).

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

: Osaka Army Arsenal ( Memento of the original of 9 February 2013 in the Internet Archive )

References

{{Authority control History of Osaka Imperial Japanese Army Meiji period 1870 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan