The was created from the Type 30 rifle for 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 ...

as a replacement for their aging Type 22 Murata rifles and to try to correct the deficiencies of the Type 30. The ''35'' referred to the adoption date, the Year 35 (1902) in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

according to the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...

History

Not long after 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 Emper ...

adopted the Type 30 rifle, the

realized they needed a modern rifle to replace their obsolete Type 22 Murata rifles currently in use by their

Special Naval Landing Forces The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF; ja, 海軍特別陸戦隊, Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai) were naval infantry units of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino ...

. Furthermore, the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal stopped manufacturing the

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). T ...

in use by the 8mm Murata cartridge. Army Captain

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 ...

of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal was appointed leader of the commission assigned correct the issues of the Type 30 rifle that had arisen in the field with the Type 30. The Type 35 was produced from 1902 to 1905.

Development

The minor modifications, intended to overcome some of the defects of the Type 30, including converting the gun-sight's rear sight leaf (rear sight ladder) from slide-out to a , and adding a . Unlike the

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, henc ...

bolt action, the crudely designed dust cover was not connected to the bolt action, and had to be manually moved before and after firing. However, the modified design was unable to overcome the shortcomings of the Type 30, and it was superseded by the

. The dust cover design, slightly modified, was also used on the Type 46 rifles and Type 47 carbines made for Siam that was also made at the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal around the same time.

Variants

Type Hiroki sub-caliber training device The Type Hiroki

sub-caliber training Sub-caliber training is used to save wear and expense when training with a larger gun by use of smaller weapons (sometimes, but not always, with very similar ballistic characteristics). The smaller weapons could be inserted into the larger weapo ...

device was system designed to be temporarily fastened to a cannon barrel. The device was used to train Imperial Japanese Navy gun crews in basic cannon fire control operation. The device was formed around a stripped down Type 35 action made for this specific purpose. The Type 35 action is like the standard Type 35 rifles, including the stamped Imperial Chrysanthemum, except it lacks a serial number stamped on the action itself and is lacking the manually actuated dust cover. Some of these rifles, stripped from the rest of its device, may have been made into some of the "02/45" rifles. 02/45 rifle Little is known about these rifles, including its official designation, if it ever had one at all. Its name is what collectors refer to them as: 02 as in 1902 when the Type 35s were adopted and 45 as in 1945 when the rifles were supposedly made. The maker is thought, but not confirmed, to be Izawa Firearms Manufactory in Osaka as the company was extensively involved in the making of training rifles and machine guns of the type that parts were used in the making of "02/40" rifles. Pre-production Type 35 models, barreled actions from Hiroki sub-caliber training devices, and uncompleted rifles that were left in storage were mated with Type 99 long rifle training rifle stocks and parts to make functional rifles for the ever-desperate Japanese war effort. Most do not have serial numbers and dust covers. Some of the barrels used in construction of these rifles have reject stamps on them and some of the Type 35 receivers have markings indicating they were scrapped or decommissioned. After using up all the Type 35, 38 and 30 barrels they had on hand, the makers started using training machine gun barrels. Some of these rifles were reported to have been used on

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

Accessories

The Type 35 bayonet was a slightly modified Type 30 bayonet made specifically for the Type 35 rifle. The dimensions of the bayonet is almost exactly the same as the Type 30 bayonet. The only real difference between the two is the addition of a spring catch that hooks into the scabbard when not in use.

Users

* : A few captured from Red Finns or left behind in Finland during World War I. Later used by the

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Historic ...

. * :

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

: Bought from Japan during World War I. * Flag of Thailand 1855

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

: A few supplied for testing or as sale samples. *: Rifles sourced from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

were used during the Spanish Civil War.

Bibliography

*Honeycutt Jr., Fred L. and Anthony, Patt F. ''Military Rifles of Japan.'' Fifth Edition, 2006. Julin Books, U.S.A. . *Allan, Francis C.; White, Doss H.; Zielinkski, Dr. Stanley. ''The Early Arisakas'' 2006. AK Enterprises, U.S.A. .

References

{{WWIRussianArms Bolt-action rifles of Japan World War I Japanese infantry weapons World War II infantry weapons of Japan