"Japanese Guns of World War 2" - A Technical, Small-Arms Introduction

[Music] hey imperial japan of the early 20th century had a history of winning there was victory over the chinese in the late 1800s they defeated russia in 1905 seized korea in 1910 annexed manchuria 20 years later and went on to occupy most of china there was no reason to believe imperial domination would end there and no reason to believe that their weapons so effective against colonial enemies would not be just as helpful when aimed at western foes the route at pearl harbor reinforced that conviction this led to what was called the victory disease in other words they believed they couldn't be defeated they never developed weaponry during the war to keep up with technological changes what the japanese army had marched into manchuria with in 1936 the same weapons they're fighting with on okinawa nine years later [Music] almost 60 years after the fact it is clear that japan was not prepared to take on america and the allies but it wasn't a matter of poor planning or carelessness it was really that they were up against a an enemy far greater than they perhaps could ever really have imagined in terms of the potential they were not equipped in any way what japan did have were soldiers they were considered the country's greatest weapon most were of peasant stock plucked from the countryside to beef up an army depleted from years of conquest the recruits were honored to serve they could endure extreme hardship such as arduous marches and long periods of deprivation and they were experts at close range hand-to-hand combat the japanese fighting spirit called satian was a quality they believed could best anything including bullets and bombs there was a very heavy emphasis in the japanese army on the the value of the fighting spirit of the soldier and that that spirit could overcome other shortages that they had in areas like material and equipment satian was a much admired and unquestioned characteristic among the japanese [Music] guns were an obvious necessity however they were considered a mere extension of the individual soldiers willingness to sacrifice he was not afraid to die what this meant was is that the war in the pacific was going to be a war without quarter a war without mercy a war to the death the imperial army infantryman in 1941 was equipped with the basics [Music] leather belts and ammunition cases which did not hold up well in humid conditions were eventually replaced with rubberized canvas products that proved the japanese could and did adapt when they had to [Music] but the weapon most soldiers carried was a virtually unchanged holdover from 1905 the type 38 rifle also known as the arisaka [Music] it fired a six and a half millimeter round light and small compared to the more powerful penetrating 30 caliber cartridge from u.s springfield and enfield rifles but the 6.5 caused terrible damage as it tumbled and broke up upon impact [Music] there was little recoil and almost no muzzle flash from the type 38 which were advantages in warfare it was a sturdy rifle which required little or no maintenance it had a bolt action which was modified from the german mauser [Music] the bolt on the type 38 rifle is one of the simplest and easiest to disassemble and clean by ordinary soldiers of any bolt action designed in about a second you can disassemble it into all of its component parts which are only four or five parts the arisaka rifle was an exceptionally long weapon from butt plate to barrel end it measured just over 50 inches with the addition of the 15 and a half inch bayonet the type 38 was nearly five and a half feet long making it clumsy for the average japanese soldier who stood about 5'3 [Music] training manuals recommended that it be fired from a squatting or kneeling position which may have made it easier to wheel like all japanese rifles used in world war ii it had a dust cover over the action but the cover was a lousy feature for soldiers who took pride in their stealth there are accounts of japanese soldiers firing in the jungle from concealed positions and their use of the dust cover on the rifle made enough noise that american soldiers were better able to tell where they were located because this dust cover was rattling every time they operated in many cases japanese soldiers apparently removed the dust cover and threw it away when they got into combat realized that they were making a lot of extra noise that they didn't need to be making [Music] despite its shortcomings the type 38 was carried into battle with pride and an aura of invincibility the receiver of each rifle was stamped with the chrysanthemum the symbol of the imperial family it was uh a gift from god i guess you could look at it that way the emperor was thought to be divine so there was definitely a responsibility that transcended any kind of authority of the military or of fear of punishment or anything else that was associated with that weapon [Music] another holdover in the japanese arsenal was the type 44 carbine first manufactured in 1911 [Music] it was a cavalry rifle designed for mounted troops which explained its shorter more manageable length it was unique for its permanently attached folding bayonet indeed having a bayonet already attached one that could be quickly folded out from the weapon it was was a definite advantage not a another accoutrement to be lost there is debate about the bayonet's utility in modern warfare if nothing else japanese troops felt it gave them a psychological edge they were raised to revere the blade the peasant soldier who could never aspire to be of the samurai class the class that was entitled to carry swords which was quite a very high status item could carry and use the bayonet which could be viewed perhaps as a surrogate sword something that could elevate them slightly in their own view of themselves like the arisaka the type 44 fired six and a half millimeter bullets loads conventionally from a five round stripper clip it had a tricky action for those not used to it straight bolt handle is awkward for americans uh we're more used to that turned bolt handle a little bit awkward but a fully functional bolt action rifle like the standard rifles japanese pistols were somewhat outdated the most widely used was the type 14. it was distinguished by horizontally grooved wooden grips the good aspects was that it had a very easy trigger pull it's very smooth and light it had a good balance to the hand so it was easy to fire and it was made of good quality materials the pistol was semi-automatic and fed by a magazine that held seven rounds of eight millimeter ammunition the type 14 was low powered puny compared to the sidearm the u.s army used the colt 45 even the trigger guard was tiny it was eventually enlarged which enabled a user wearing gloves to fire it officers of the imperial forces were required to purchase their pistols given that option some bought european models in this one instance feelings of japanese superiority took a back seat to practicality the type 14 simply didn't measure up to the competition the striker's springs were very weak and the more you used it the weaker the springs became so that if you would use it for a while there's a greater chance that you would misfire which of course would not be very good when you're fighting the battle whatever their drawbacks japanese arms were in good supply in 1941 so was ammunition to keep the flow coming the one cent coin was withdrawn from circulation the copper was melted down and made into bullet jackets japan was more than successful in the initial stages of the pacific campaign proof to them that the tools they had to work with were entirely adequate after all they were good enough to kill the enemy and did but a drop in the quality and quantity of arms eventually would have an effect as the imperial empire's reach exceeded its grasp [Music] history has judged some japanese weapons as little more than junk but their inferiority didn't prevent imperial forces from taking guam and wake island nor hong kong and new guinea killing many in the process japan seemed unstoppable as it took malaya java the philippines and burma but japan was no longer on the offensive after its defeat at midway in june of 1942 by that summer ground troops were about to enter new territory jungle fighting the likes of which had never been seen it was here that the myth of japanese invincibility was shattered japanese arms weren't designed for jungle warfare once that shortcoming was realized it was too late to compensate u.s forces had been alerted to the japanese soldiers superior skills in certain tropical environments however the warnings failed to mention that the imperial army lacked actual jungle training there were no jungles in japan they failed to take certain precautions that were critical in the south pacific for example they did not waterproof their rounds or the packaging that carried the ammunition what would happen is the humidity would destroy a lot of it this is a terrible flaw they tried to eliminate the problem by sealing with lacquer the bullets and primers in the cartridges both sides were at a disadvantage in this way but the japanese were sorely lacking in another area that to this day remains unexplained for most of world war ii they went without the one weapon that was perfectly suited for the battles at hand a submachine gun i mean they're the ideal weapon for jungle work instead of karting a full-size rifle about and i think too that the higher echelons of the army were a little bit resistant to this peculiar weapon that they'd never they didn't have that when i was a young man you know so what the hell do they want it now for uh rifles were good enough in my day why do they want submachine guns the type 100 submachine gun was finally introduced in 1942 but it was a limited prototype at that initially used only by special forces [Applause] it too fired the weak eight millimeter pistol ammunition at 450 rounds per minute the rate of fire was almost doubled in later models but it made no difference only some 10 000 type 100s were ever produced while the us supplied its troops with nearly 2 million submachine guns the credit or blame for many weapons used by the japanese goes to one man colonel kijero nambu the father of imperial military firearms kijiro nambu was the most prolific japanese arms designer of the 20th century he was in in many ways equivalent to john browning as an american arms designer he designed most of the japanese pistols machine guns and the action of the rifles that was used during world war ii but unlike browning nambu did not always create guns which were simple and streamlined his were often strange and complicated the type 14 pistol for example featured a manual safety catch which required both hands to operate nambu's designs and modifications were implemented at five major arsenals three in japan one in korea and another in manchuria it was an impressive effort for a country new to industrialization several commercial firms including tokyo gas and electric were major contractors during the pacific war subcontracting was vital to production if there was a barrel manufacturing factory they would have somebody else preparing the billets of steel for them they would turn and bore and rifle the barrels and then they'd farm it out for somebody to polish them and brown them or blew them whatever and form the chamber or something like that you see [Music] weapons were marked and coated the markings indicated where and when a firearm was made and it's sheiki or type early rifles were designated with the year of the emperor's reign for example the type 38 was introduced in the 38th year of meiji's reign or 1905 the type 44 carbine in his 44th year or 1911. when hirohito became emperor in 1926 the system was changed it was based on the japanese calendar models were designated for the last one or two digits of the year in which they were introduced the symbols on each weapon indicated the month and year of its manufacturer and by what arsenal obviously could get a bit confusing and it did you've got to learn all these things the hard way it's rather like cartridge calibers there's no sort of easy way out of it [Music] the type 99 rifle was adopted in 1939 the type 99 was a widely used weapon there were several versions a long type was considered impractical so not many were made the shorter model was produced by the millions it was the successor to the arisaka and became the army standard issue in 1941 and 1942 it would be hard to find another standard infantry rifle that has as many gadgets on it as the type 99 rifle the gadgets included fold down anti-aircraft sites in theory they allowed a shooter to accurately lead a plane he intended to target when you're shooting in an airplane that presumably is considering shooting back at you it's a lot of manipulation to get this site adjusted properly and to figure out how fast the airplane is going and use the proper notch on the wing extensions on the site to fire off a shot a monopod which added stability for a soldier in the prone position was another distinguishing feature of the type 99 the rifle had a blued finish and a varnished stock it caught reflected light a handicap to the person hiding behind it the type 99 fired a different round than most other japanese guns in use opposing forces said they could hear the difference the louder 7.7 millimeter cartridge made it was hoped the 7.7 would become the standard caliber for all firearms used by the japanese but this never happened much has been made about the japanese seem to have so many different models and so many different types and so many different kinds of ammunition that it must have been a quartermaster's nightmare to supply all of these things and indeed it was to some extent there would be the rimmed kind of ammunition the one that's called rimless and then a semi-rimmed round that meant there were three different rounds for the same caliber and they weren't interchangeable between the guns tank crews and airmen had their own brand of protection if you could call it that the type 94 pistol introduced in 1934 was ugly in more ways than one it was poorly designed and was sometimes a danger to the person who used it type 94 is a freakish weapon which has an exposed seer and pressure on that seer will fire the weapon the fact that it could be accidentally and easily fired without pulling the trigger made this gun a collectible not to shoot but to ridicule they're just horribly made they were not reliable at all and overall it wasn't looked upon as a very good military pistol in fact the type 94 was one of the worst service pistols ever produced but there was a plus side it was cheaper to make than the type 14 which ensured a place on the battlefield in early 1942 the japanese prepared to throw everything they had into the fight for guadalcanal american marine forces were met with an array of inadequate conventional arms but japanese soldiers were tenacious defenders who would cut down tens of thousands even as the tide of war turned against them [Music] during the second world war the japanese were not in the habit of using captured weapons unless they were of service right on the spot they did this quite effectively with the american infantry rifles the springfield and the garand m1 certainly the report of a grand rifle it was different from that of a 6.5 millimeter model 38. many of japanese realized was a means of confounding the enemy so someone shooting with a grand rifle and some place that no american soldier was supposed to be might indeed confuse the americans that would hear the report [Music] but in the summer of 1942 imperial warriors needed more than clever tricks to counter the marine offensive on miserable starvation island better known as guadalcanal japan had been one of the first nations to include machine guns in its arsenal they were utilized to great effect in other conflicts earlier in the century but over the years attempts to improve them created problems that were evident in august of 1942 the type 3 heavy machine gun first introduced in 1914 was based on the french hotchkiss design it fired cartridges that could separate and cause stoppages a messy solution meant oiling the cartridges before insertion but the lubricant was a magnet for dust and dirt it was nearly impossible to prevent the grit in combat conditions from clogging the works the type 11 from 1922 was the standard light machine gun those who faced it can testify that it was accurate and deadly there was no other weapon quite like it the type 11's unique hopper system held thirty six and a half millimeter rounds it was designed to be operated by two soldiers one continuously fed the hopper the other aimed and fired [Music] it was a brilliant concept that was less than brilliant in practice if you're out in the field simply have your infantryman pass the five round stripper clip ammunition to the uh to the gunner um at least in theory a a good system apparently the japanese realized there were some reliability problems because it appears on none of the subsequent japanese machine guns produced later in the war soldiers carried spare hoppers which replaced those that got dirty or jammed but the type 11 was difficult to assemble it had more than 30 parts more than 30 ways in which something could go wrong and sometimes did it was much too sensitive for the type of fighting in which the japanese were engaged the type 96 light machine gun was a decided advancement it too was gas operated with extensive cooling rings the gun had two barrels when one overheated the other could be put into place the type 96 had a counter on the 30 round magazine it was a strange and unnecessary feature no soldier had time to look at it in the heat of battle the gun was unusual in another way it had a bayonet mount which was uniquely japanese its carrying handle made the 20-pound weapon easy for u.s marines to cart off as a trophy the demand for the type 96 far outpace japan's ability to make them [Applause] [Music] the lack of a large manufacturing base forced the japanese to make do with whatever they could including ingenuity for instance they never had an effective anti-tank gun they resorted to digging a hole in the road putting a 100 kilogram aircraft bomb in the hole along with a soldier armed only with a hammer or a rock and then they'd cover it this was their mine and this poor guy was supposed to detonate the bomb and himself and hopefully destroy a tank hunger in particular and horrendous conditions in general raged during the six-month campaign for guadalcanal those who thought they had seen it all had not for the first time in the war there were visible cracks in the japanese armor the infantryman's greatest strength his spirit was no match for starvation sickness and the power of american howitzers and tanks there is a significant although subtle difference between being confident and willing to give up your life and being fatalistic about your future ironically with the morale deterioration what happened was it reinforced the already strong belief in them to fight to the last man and to die for the emperor [Music] the disgrace of surrender or capture was rarely an option for some the only honorable way out were bonsai charges straight into fortified positions with bayoneted type 38s and 99 rifles fired from their hips entire units were annihilated an officer usually led the way in his hand was a weapon that was more symbolic than practical when you read the literature that was given to the u.s soldier before he went overseas they warned them of the samurai sword if you see an officer with a samurai sword shoot him first because of the danger of the weapon and secondly because we believe that if we shot the officer then the rest of the troops would not follow in the samurai tradition imperial army and navy officers wore swords at their sides they represented purity rarity and value many were family heirlooms considered to be sacred as they were handed down from generation to generation the art of making swords was resurrected during world war ii for japan the notion of glory and death was self-defeating valuable intelligence and perspective that might have been gained were gone forever not to mention the loss of experienced troops more than 16 000 japanese were killed at guadalcanal fewer than 1800 americans died there the outcome of the war now seemed inevitable but japan was determined to fight to the bitter end and would do so in savage combat for two more years the worst was yet to come hopelessness was visible in horrible forms during the final stages of the pacific war on saipan hundreds of japanese soldiers and civilians jumped off cliffs when americans won control of the island imperial forces fought to the death in brutal battles at leyte and manila general douglas macarthur took back the philippines as he had promised japanese supply lines were strangled and the homeland was within range of u.s bombers japan was very very vulnerable at the end of 1944 allied blockades and air raids took a toll on manufacturing there was the great spur to produce more and produce them more quickly well let's not waste time polishing that it doesn't really matter whether that bit's polished or not do without it don't bother to fit that safety device because it takes three hours to put it on and we can be building another weapon in that time they really were producing some horrible weapons arms were made as simply as possible from the lowest quality raw materials they were poorly finished this type 99 is an example it was not equipped with a cleaning rod nor monopod in addition the type 99's plum shaped bolt handle became a cylinder the steel butt plate was replaced with wood held in place with three nails rough welds were obvious in several spots front and rear sights were crude the rifle's cartridge cases were made of soft iron due to a shortage of brass [Music] the japanese gathered up great quantities of brass from china cooking pots and whatever they could find that was made of it since some of that ammunition was defective because of the poor quality of metal that was used so instead of having a round with a lot of punch all of a sudden you've got a round that's doing less damage and less effectiveness so even if you're on target you're not having the effect you want [Music] the rifle was officially called the substitute 99. its nickname accurately reflected the situation last ditch the only marking stamped on these weapons was the imperial chrysanthemum the substitute type 99 is about as simple as you can make a rifle that will still be a functional multi-shot bolt action rifle anyone able to make guns including school girls was recruited to help it's not just a story that the japanese had to resort to cottage industry where literally they were making guns and backyards and small little areas because their industrial base was being destroyed japan was working against the biggest and best industrial power in the world the united states where there was no shortage of technology materials and men and women to make weapons the u.s produced more light machine guns in a month than the japanese did during the entire course of the war certainly the weapons that the japanese had were inferior to the weapons we were equipped with and the japanese industries that manufactured these weapons in no way compared with american industry turned loose given carte blanche to produce as many weapons as possible with the government backing [Music] in february of 1945 the marines landed on iwo jima they were met with a barrage of machine gun fire primarily from the type 92 heavy machine gun it rarely overheated because it cycled so slowly marines called it the woodpecker it was the standard machine gun used against allied forces three soldiers could carry it by adjusting the tripod the type 92 was a hotchkiss derivative and more than a decade old cartridges were oiled with a built-in brush [Music] the gun fired 7.7 millimeter ammunition it spit out the spent shells with considerable force throwing them yards away the type 92s were carefully concealed in clusters of 8 9 and 10. this was easy for the japanese to do on iwo jima given the terrain and very often they established these guns on the reverse slopes of hills and fired them over the top of the hills at targets that they had registered the guns on previously it's very difficult to deal with weapons that can't be seen waves of american marines were pinned down by defenders who had worked for months carving sophisticated networks of caves bunkers and pill boxes into the slopes of sulfur island there were hundreds of subterranean positions on mount suribachi there were three levels of them from these hideouts the japanese hammered away sometimes with aircraft armament they retrieved from downed plains near the island's three airstrips nearly every weapon in the japanese arsenal was used on iwo jima including the type 99 light machine gun the type 99 machine gun like the type 99 rifle used 7.7 millimeter ammunition it fired as long as the trigger was pulled it could not be used as a semi-automatic weapon the type 99 was highly mobile like its predecessor the type 96 it had a carrying handle on top and was used to defend the heavier positions its flash hider was screwed onto the muzzle while the gun still had bayonet mounts bayonets disappeared evidence that the traditions and weapons japan originally carried into the war were no longer practical nor effective even the banzai charge was ultimately abandoned there wasn't much the average japanese soldier could do once he realized that the war was going against japan he faced overwhelming numbers better guns more firepower and a seemingly endless supply of reinforcements and ammunition that eventually just led to one end result his defeat in the spring of 1945 only one obstacle stood between the allies and their invasion of the japanese homeland okinawa and its fanatic defenders the largest amphibious assault of world war ii took place on okinawa in april 1945. it was called operation iceberg american invaders came ashore without much resistance at first the japanese were again holed up in an incredible labyrinth of fortifications playing a waiting game as we fought through the war the americans were able to learn how to counter every one of these different defensive moves the japanese made it might take longer take more casualties but ultimately we would win the japanese never learned how to develop a defense that would defeat the americans the japanese command center on okinawa was 100 feet below ground and around it was every weapon the imperial army could muster on this spot alone were 1200 light machine guns [Applause] more than 300 heavy machine guns were also ready to fire [Applause] as well as one of the simplest and deadliest weapons the japanese had the type 89 heavy grenade discharger it had a range of about 700 yards but could be adjusted for shorter distances there was a little knob on the outside that you just would turn that and you would either raise it or lower it and then that would change the distances that the grenade would fly as i talked to some gis about it they said those that's what they feared the most were those because they were just so proficient it seemed that they could just land them wherever they wanted to to fire this weapon quite simply safety pins removed from the round round is inserted in the mortar and this firing lanyard is pulled and that would discharge the mortar the type 89's pitch or angle was determined by how the barrel was placed in relation to the ground americans called this the knee mortar it was a misleading name that occasionally led to serious injury there were american soldiers that have attempted to fire this weapon with the base plate against the knee or the thigh the normal result is a broken thigh [Applause] the type 100 submachine gun finally made an appearance here though not to great effect serviceable but fairly crude no adjustment to the site two side apertures a circular peepside aperture and a v-notch very simple weapon uh wooden butt plate in lieu of a metal butt plate crude overall japanese paratroopers and special attack force commandos used a variation of the type 100 disassembled and carried in packs on their chests despite the array of weapons the japanese could not stop the assault the americans kept coming with more guns and more ammunition after two months of fighting u.s forces took control of okinawa japanese soldiers retreated to their caves where they were eventually killed with flamethrowers and explosive charges almost every defender of the island some 107 000 people were killed in contrast 7 000 americans lost their lives in the last major land battle of the pacific war in the spring and summer of 1945 the bombs fell on tokyo osaka kobe and other japanese cities the destruction was devastating still there was no surrender as a greater threat loomed invasion of the home islands which to many japanese meant the loss of an entire history culture and identity everybody was going to defend the country they were even going so far as as to use spears and pikes and things like that anything that could be used to try and stop the americans was going to be used in early august of 1945 atomic bombs were dropped first on hiroshima then on nagasaki six days later japan finally surrendered in an effort to spare their country even more humiliation japanese commanders are said to have issued final orders to their surviving men mutilate the mark of the chrysanthemum symbol of the imperial family before giving up their rifles only then would the weapon have no meaning [Music] the dictate was in keeping with general douglas macarthur's own philosophy that the japanese not lose face he is said to have ordered americans with souvenir rifles to do the same [Music] the removal and disposal of weapons was a long process they were taken from the japanese military and from citizens who in some cases had hidden them thinking they might actually one day be used thousands of arms were rounded up and thrown with ammunition crates into tokyo bay the outcome of the war was not solely determined by the type of weapons used by the japanese they were but a small part of a much larger picture one of the paradoxes about the war in the pacific against the japanese is the fact that while they had tremendous spirit and belief in their cause on the practical side they were called crude amateurs by people who really analyzed the war unlike the soldiers of other nations who believe that their weapons were their main line of defense the japanese thought their weapons were ancillary that it was their willingness to fight and die if necessary that was going to carry them through to success [Music] thanks for watching if you'd like to help us produce more compelling historical content like this please like comment below and share this video with fellow history buffs and of course be sure to subscribe to help keep history happening

Channel: LionHeart FilmWorks

Views: 356,840

Rating: 4.8463821 out of 5

Keywords: world war 2, world war ii, history channel, second world war, type 44, military history, world war 2 oversimplified, world war ii call of duty, imperial japanese army, iwo jima, simple history, world war 2 sounds, world war ii oversimplified, simple history weapons, firearms, machine guns, axis, commies, k98, type 99, type 38 rifle, bolt action rifles, machine gun, tales of the gun, world war ii (event), arisaka

Id: gj_GKK_QOHM

Length: 44min 17sec (2657 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 04 2020