was a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 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 ...

. The inventor of the Arisaka Rifle, he is regarded as one of the leading arms designers in

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventi ...

, alongside

Kijirō Nambu was a Japanese firearms designer and career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He founded the Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company, a major manufacturer of Japanese military firearms during the period. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Trea ...

Biography

Arisaka was born in Iwakuni, Suo province (currently part of

Yamaguchi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...

) as the 4th son of a ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

'' retainer of Chōshū Domain. At the age of 11, he was adopted by firearms craftsman Arisaka Nagayoshi, from whom he took his family name. After 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 ...

, he enlisted in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. In 1891, he caught the attention of General

Murata Tsuneyoshi was a Japanese samurai, swordsman, marksman, firearm inventor, gunsmith, soldier, and military officer. He also used the assumed names and . Biography He was born the eldest son of , a retainer of the Shimazu clan. In his youth he studie ...

, designer of the Murata Rifle, the standard Japanese Army rifle, and was appointed to a position in the Tokyo Arsenal. In 1897, Arisaka completed work on the

Type 30 Rifle The is a box-fed bolt-action repeating rifle that was the standard infantry rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1897 (the 30th year of the Meiji period, hence "Type 30") to 1905. History and development The Imperial Japanese Army began de ...

, an improvement on the Murata Rifle, which was adopted by the Japanese Army as its standard weapon in time for the Boxer Rebellion. In 1898, he also completed design work on the Type 31 75mm Mountain Gun, and his name became known in the world of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

as well as small arms. However, his earlier designs were not well received by combat troops. The Type 30 Rifle was regarded as underpowered and lacked lethality. The Type 31 guns lacked

recoil buffer A recoil buffer is a factory-installed or aftermarket component of firearms which serves to reduce the velocity and/or cushion the impact of recoiling parts of a firearm. Design The simplest form of recoil buffer is made from a resilient and deform ...

s and had poor accuracy. In 1903, Arisaka was appointed head of the Army Technical Bureau. He oversaw a committee charged with improving older models, including the Type 30 Rifle. The chief designer on the project was Captain

, who would later attain fame as a weapons designer on his own. The result of this project was the famous

Type 38 Rifle The is a bolt-action service rifle that was used by the Empire of Japan predominantly during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Second World War. The design was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1905 (the 38th year of the Meiji period, hence ...

, otherwise known as the “Arisaka Rifle”, which was issued to front line

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

troops just in time for the end of 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 1904–1905. The ruggedness of the Type 38 rifle was praised by combat troops, although the issue of its small caliber was not addressed until much later.Mayer. ''The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan''. pp44-45 The Type 38 Rifle, and its various modified versions, continued to be used by the Japanese military until the end of

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 opposing ...

. Throughout the Russo-Japanese War, Arisaka continued to work on improvements and variations to his rifles, and at the request of

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

Yamagata Aritomo '' Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the '' genrō'', an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated J ...

, he also worked on designs for large caliber siege weapons and fortress guns. In 1906, Arisaka was awarded with the

Order of the Golden Kite The was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan". It was officially abolished 1947 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during the ...

(2nd Class) and promoted to

. In 1907, he was further elevated to the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'' peerage when he was made a baron (''danshaku''). In 1910, he was awarded with the Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class). Arisaka died in 1915, and his grave is at the

Yanaka Cemetery is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt. The cemetery is famous for its beautif ...

in Tokyo.

References

Books

* Bishop, Chris (eds) ''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. *McCollum, Duncan O. ''Japanese Rifles of World War II''. Excalibur Publications (1996) *Honeycutt, Fred. L.
Military Rifles of Japan
'.Julin Books (1996). * Mayer, S.L. ''The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan''. The Military Press (1984)

External links

* ttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_5_50/ai_114283920 Japan's Intriguing Arisakasbr>Buy Military Rifles of Japan from the Author

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arisaka, Nariakira 1852 births 1915 deaths People from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Military personnel from Yamaguchi Prefecture Kazoku Firearm designers Japanese generals People of Meiji-period Japan