Arisaka Nariakira
Arisaka Nariakira | |
---|---|
Lieutenant General | |
Commands held | Army Technical Bureau |
Awards | Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class, 1906) Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class, 1910) |
Biography
Arisaka was born in
In 1897, Arisaka completed work on the
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 Kijirō Nambu, who would later attain fame as a weapons designer on his own. The result of this project was the famous Type 38 rifle, otherwise known as the "Arisaka rifle", which was issued to front line infantry troops just in time for the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.[2] 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.[3] The Type 38 rifle, and its various modified versions, continued to be used by the Japanese military until the end of World War II.
Throughout the Russo-Japanese War, Arisaka continued to work on improvements and variations to his rifles, and at the request of
Arisaka died in 1915, and his grave is at the Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo.
References
Books
- Bishop, Chris (eds) The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. ISBN 0-7607-1022-8
- McCollum, Duncan O. Japanese Rifles of World War II. Excalibur Publications (1996) ISBN 1-880677-11-3
- Honeycutt, Fred. L. Military Rifles of Japan.Julin Books (1996). ISBN 0-9623208-7-0
- Mayer, S.L. The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan. The Military Press (1984) ISBN 0-517-42313-8
External links
- Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles and Bayonets of World War II
- Japan's Intriguing Arisakas
- Buy Military Rifles of Japan from the Author