The Japanese entered World War II with weapons that were already outdated. The problem with Japanese weapons, as this documentary makes clear, is that in general they weren't very useful to begin with. They were fine when used against ill-armed Mongolians, Koreans, or Chinese, but not against the weaponry of highly industrialized nations. Further, as the war progressed and Japan, having no natural resources of its own, ran out of raw materials, the quality declined even more.
This television documentary from "Tales of the Gun" is an introduction and survey of Japanese small arms in World War II. It has just enough technical detail for the non-technical mind to grasp the points being made. A survey, but a well-done survey.
VIDEO HERE (44:16 minutes)
Col. John George, Illinois state rifle champion and Pacific infantry, had a lot to say about Japanese small arms in WW2.
ReplyDelete"Shots Fired in Anger", the NRA used to sell it.
I have the book. It's excellent. He did a thorough analysis. His main criticism of the Arisaka rifle was that it was a bolt-action, far out-performed by the Garand; but he gave excellent marks to the Type 96 light machine gun.
DeleteThey sure killed a hell of a lot of Americans.
ReplyDeleteThe common myth post WWII, from non-veterans, was the equipment and training of the Japanese military was far inferior to that of the US counterparts. That was a dangerous and stupid fiction and quite apart from the truth.
ReplyDeleteTheir mountain and cold weather troops were some of the best during WWII. And, yes, stupid fiction, but that's part of 'othering' the enemy (making it so that the other is seen as non-human. Kind of what the Leftists have done to us.)
DeleteI can't speak for the small arms, but the Japanese - especially at the beginning - had some of the best weapons fielded. The Zero was one fine example. Another was their torpedo. Known by the allies as the "Long Lance", it could be argued that it was the best, most reliable torpedo of any nation at the time - both allied and axis.
DeleteI have my grandfather's 7.7 that he picked up in Okinawa. He sold his swords he collected back in the early 2000's for a ton of cash when the Japanese were going around retirement communities looking for war collections
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