The , formally was an arsenal in the Koishikawa area of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, on the grounds of today's Tokyo Dome City and the

Koishikawa Kōrakuen Garden is a district of Bunkyo, Tokyo. It consists of five sub-areas, . In Koishikawa are located two well regarded gardens: the Koishikawa Botanical Garden (operated by the University of Tokyo) in Hakusan, and the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden in K� ...

. It was located on the ground of the former residence of the Prince of Mito.

History

The arsenal was inaugurated in 1871, soon after the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. One of its main early productions was the

Murata rifle The was the first indigenously produced Japanese service rifle adopted in 1880 as the ''Meiji Type 13 Murata single-shot rifle''. The ''13'' referred to the adoption date, the year 13 in the Meiji period according to the Japanese calendar. De ...

, the first locally produced Japanese rifle. As of 1893, it was producing about 200 rifles and 200,000 cartridges daily. The arsenal was especially active between the two World Wars, as the Arisaka rifle was produced there. The arsenal also produced licensed Mauser style rifles based on the

Gewehr 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated ''G98'', Gew 98, or ''M98'') is a bolt-action rifle made by Mauser for the German Empire as its service rifle from 1898 to 1935. The Gewehr 98 action, using a 5-round stripper clip loaded with the 7.92×57mm Mauser ...

for the military of

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(now Thailand). The arsenal began producing airplanes after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

for the Japanese army, and also for the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, which placed an order for 10 airplanes before 1916. Discipline and organization at the arsenal are thought to have been extremely strict, leading to the development of labor disputes in which the Koishikawa arsenal took a leading role in Japan.''Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan'' Andrew Gordon p.74
/ref> After the First World War, the Imperial Japanese Army Institute of Science was established within the Koishikawa arsenal. In 1937, the Number Nine Research Laboratory was established as a breakaway unit from this station. The arsenal suffered considerable destruction during the Great Kantō earthquake on 1 September 1923. Complete reconstruction was deemed too expensive, so that the arsenal was transferred to

Kokura is an ancient Jōkamachi, castle town and the center of modern Kitakyushu, Japan. Kokura is also the name of the Kokura Station, penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen line, which is owned by JR West. Ferries connect Kokura ...

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

(小倉工廠) in October 1935, after 66 years of operation.

Gallery

File:Tokyo hoheikosho.jpg, Old Koishikawa Arsenal, circa 1890 File:Destruction of the Tokyo Arsenal in 1923.jpg, Destruction of the old Tokyo Koishikawa Arsenal in the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. File:Tokyo Arsenal pre War.jpg, View of the red brick Koishikawa Arsenal from the direction of Suidobashi File:Tokyo hoheikosho 1930.jpg, The new Koishikawa Arsenal, circa 1930.

Notes

{{Authority control Arsenals Defunct defense companies of Japan