Arisaka Nariakira

Arisaka Nariakira

Baron Arisaka Nariakira ( Japanese 有 坂 成章 ; born April 5, 1852 in Iwakuni , † January 12, 1915 in Tokyo ) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army and inventor of the Arisaka rifle . He is considered one of the leading weapons designers in Japanese history.

Life

Arisaka was born the fourth son of a samurai family that belonged to the Chōshū-han . At the age of eleven, he was adopted by the gunsmith Arisaka Nagayoshi, whose family name he took over. After the Meiji Restoration , he enrolled in the newly established Imperial Japanese Army. In 1891 he caught the attention of General Murata Tsuneyoshis , the designer of the Murata rifle, the Japanese standard rifle of the time. This gave him a post in the Tokyo arsenal, where Arisaka was able to devote himself to the further development of existing weapons for the first time.

In 1897 he presented the Type 30 rifle , a further development of the Murata rifle, which soon became the new Japanese standard rifle. In 1898 he presented the 75 mm mountain gun Type 31 and the 75 mm field gun Type 31 , which were mainly used during the later Russo-Japanese War . With this achievement, Arisaka acquired a reputation as a designer of excellent artillery pieces. Both weapons were soon obsolete. The Type 30 rifle soon had a reputation for not having enough penetration power, while the Type 31 gun suffered from poor accuracy and excessive recoil.

In 1903 Arisaka became head of the army's technical department. There he supervised the further development of older weapon models, including his Type 30 rifle. Chief designer of his department was Captain Nambu Kijirō . The result of the research was the Type 38 rifle , also known as the Arisaka rifle, which was still used during the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905. Although its caliber was soon considered too small, the Arisaka rifle was very popular with the troops due to its insensitivity. The Type 38 rifle and its various further developments remained in service in the Japanese army until the end of World War II .

During the Russo-Japanese War, Arisaka continued to work on various variants and further developments of his rifles and at the request of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial General Staff , Yamagata Aritomo , he also devoted himself to large-caliber siege weapons and fortress guns. In 1906 Arisaka was promoted to lieutenant general for his services and he received the Order of the Golden Consecration, 2nd class . In 1907 he was ennobled and received the title of Danshaku (baron). In 1910 he received the Order of the Holy Treasure, 1st class.

Arisaka Nariakira died on January 12, 1915 and was buried in the Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo.

literature

• Chris Bishop (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II . Barnes & Nobel, 1998, ISBN 0760710228
• Duncan O. McCollum: Japanese Rifles of World War II . Excalibur Publications, 1996, ISBN 1880677113
• Fred. L. Honeycutt: Military Rifles of Japan . Julin Books, 1996, ISBN 0962320870
• SL Mayer: The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan . The Military Press, 1984, ISBN 0517423138

Web links

• Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles and Bayonets of World War II

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bishop, The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II
2. ↑ Holt Bodinson: Japan's intriguing Arisakas . In: Guns Magazine . May 2004 ( findarticles.com ).
3. ↑ Mayer. The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan . Pp. 44-45

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Arisaka is the family name, Nariakira the first name.