Simple Weapons.

[Kiipu]

Simple Weapons.
In memory of Nick Komiya

General

In 1944 it was realized that the decisive battle of the mainland of Japan was soon to be fought. There was a call for complete national armament and because of the shortage of weapons the study and development of simple weapons began. The purpose was to arm everyone in Japan both military and civilian, with some type of fighting weapon. Research was started in the summer of 1944 and was nearly completed by the summer of 1945. A photograph and brief description of each type of weapon follows.

Swords, Spears, etc.

In Figure 36 are shown the different ways civilians could use home implements and convert them into weapons. This included everything from fastening on ordinary knife to a bamboo pole to using a baseball bat.

Figure 36.

Source: Office of the Chief Ordnance Officer, General Headquarters, Army Forces, Pacific. Ordnance Technical Intelligence Report Number 19, by Edward B. Bruderlin and Robert S. Nelson. Tokyo, Japan: 13 March 1946.

[Kiipu]

Bow and Arrows

With the prospect of a powder supply shortage, a short bow and a cross-bow which could be readily made in a home workshop were developed. Also both ordinary arrows and explosive arrows were planned to be used as missiles. The Short Bow was to be effective up to about 90 yards with ordinary arrows. The effective range of the cross bow was to be 50 yards using the 100 to 200 grams explosive head. See Figure 37 to 41.

Figure 37.


Figure 38.

[Willmore]

Really interesting, thank you for showing us this.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Kiipu]

Figure 39.


Figure 40.


Figure 41.

[Kiipu]

Simple 7.7 mm and 8 mm Rifles

A very simple rifle which would fire the standard 7.7 mm. ammunition was attempted. The length of the barrel was 50 cm and it was so simple in construction that it, as well as the other parts, could be made on an ordinary lathe. It was a bolt action single shot piece as shown in Figure 42. It was intended to equip the front line defense troops with this weapon. However, the ammunition proving too powerful, it was decided to make the rifle shorter and use standard 8 mm 14th Year Type pistol ammunition. This was much more satisfactory. The rifle is shown in Figure 43.

Figure 42.


Figure 43.

[Richard2]

Thank you for a very interesting post. The short bow in Figure 37 is asymetrical. The left side is recurved and the right is not. Is there a reason for that? Which end was pointing up when teh bow was shot?

[Kiipu]

National Rifle

This rifle was developed for the purpose of equipping volunteer defense troops and was a type that could be made by any small factory or smithy shop. The construction was simple as an ordinary piece of pipe (13 mm diameter) formed the barrel. It was loaded with 3 to 5 grams of black powder and the projectile was made from ordinary bar stock cut in sections about 15 mm in length. It was fired by the hammer striking a primer-igniter cap which was placed over a small flash hole on top of the barrel. See Figure 44. A pistol version of this type weapon was also produced as shown in Figure 45.

Figure 44.


Figure 45.

[Kiipu]

Simple Thrower (Grenade Discharger)

This weapon was to enable every soldier with a standard military rifle to discharge grenades. It was to be made out of any material such as bamboo, wood, or sheet metal made into a cylinder and wrapped with wire. See Figure 46.

Figure 46.

[Kiipu]

Grenade Rifle

This was a version of the National Rifle with a much larger bore. It was to be fired in the same manner but was to be used to fire everything from grenades to any kind of scrap that could be rammed into the barrel. One version had a wire wrapped bamboo tube while the other had a metal cylinder for a tube. See Figure 47.

Figure 47.

The End

[Kiipu]

Which end was pointing up when the bow was shot?

It seems the depicted bow is based upon the Japanese yumi 弓. The answer to your inquiry can be find at the link below.
Yumi