Were there firearms in feudal japan?

[Angelcake]

I was wondering, were there guns and cannons in 17th century japan? I think I read somewhere that they used primitive yet effective muskets that were somewhat bulky and clumsy, as well as many kinds of explosives.

[ziritrion]

When you get "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy", you'll get the chance to check it out .

Yup, they had matchlock guns (teppo.)

[Tim]

Of course there were firearms in feudal japan. Didn't you see TMNT III?

[takematsu]

Firearms as we know them (the Chinese were using rocket-powered spears in the 12th c. or so, but I've never seen a reference to that sort of thing in Japan) were introduced to Japan in the first half of the 16th c. by Portuguese traders. By the middle of the century, there was a production plant going in Kagoshima. "Primitive" is a fairly relative term-- they made matchlock muskets since that's what the Europeans showed them, which were state of the art at the time. After the country got closed in the early 1600's, there wasn't a lot of advancement, but there was a lot of polishing of the existing tech, so by the 1800's they were making some astoundingly beautiful and precise matchlocks... when everyone else was converting to metallic-cartridge, breech-loading weapons.

The first firearm injury in Japan came within a couple of weeks of the introduction-- a son of the lord who's turf the first traders washed up on asked to try out one of the arquebueses(eseses), and since there wasn't a good common language for instruction, more or less filled the barrel with gunpowder and perched the bullet on top. For those who hain't studied that sort of thing-- WAY too much powder ("A pinch? I thought you said a pound!"). Although... if memory serves, no one was killed, just badly maimed.

[Todd Shogun]

I'm trying to remember, but wasn't there a scene in the new Zatoichi movie where one guy pulls out a firearm and shoots it off?? I gotta buy that movie soon...

Also, for more on guns and how they fit into Feudal Japan, check out the Shogun mini-series, now on DVD, or better yet, read James Clavell's novel.

[Steve Hubbell]

I don't know how accurate it is, but an interesting book about the introduction and use of firearms in Feudal Japan is Noel Perrin's Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879
Paperback: 136 pages, David R. Godine Publisher; Reissue edition (January 1, 1995)
ISBN: 0879237732

[Onaga]

There were cannons and muskets brought to japan by americans. I'm doing a project on feudal japan and i found that out a few days ago.

[takematsu]

Of course, that was at the time of the Meiji restoration, when Japan was in transition from Feudal to Imperial Monarchy in the 19th century European use of the concept. From the intro of firearms in the 16th century, the trend was to make smaller weapons (Shogun's peace = no need for cannon, but occasional use for something you can keep in your sleeve), but when Peary's fleet sailed in the utility of modernization became apparent. "Now we can invade Korea PROPERLY!" You're technically right, but it was so late that it hardly counts.

[ziritrion]

I'm trying to remember, but wasn't there a scene in the new Zatoichi movie where one guy pulls out a firearm and shoots it off?? I gotta buy that movie soon...

Yes, that guy pulls off a revolver and shoots at Zatoichi, without success. I'm not sure about what time period the movie takes place in (maybe the Meiji era?)

[Steve Hubbell]

I'm trying to remember, but wasn't there a scene in the new Zatoichi movie where one guy pulls out a firearm and shoots it off?? I gotta buy that movie soon...

Yes, that guy pulls off a revolver and shoots at Zatoichi, without success. I'm not sure about what time period the movie takes place in (maybe the Meiji era?)

There was a similar scene in Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" between Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. In that movie, the gun was a revolver.