The was created from the

Type 30 rifle The is a box-fed bolt-action repeating rifle that was the standard infantry rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1897 (the 30th year of the Meiji period, hence "Type 30") to 1905. History and development The Imperial Japanese Army began d ...

for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as a replacement for their aging Type 22

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 ...

s and to try to correct the deficiencies of the Type 30. The ''35'' referred to the adoption date, the Year 35 (1902) in the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

according to the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

History

Not long after the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

adopted the Type 30 rifle, the

realized they needed a modern rifle to replace their obsolete Type 22

s currently in use by their

Special Naval Landing Forces The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF; ) were standalone naval infantry units in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN land forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and in the Pacific theatre o ...

. Furthermore, the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal stopped manufacturing the

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

in use by the 8mm Murata cartridge. Army Captain

Kijirō Nambu was a Japanese firearms designer and career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He founded the Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company, a major manufacturer of Japanese military firearms during the period. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treas ...

of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal was appointed leader of the commission assigned correct the issues of the

that had arisen in the field with the Type 30. The Type 35 was produced from 1902 to 1905.

Development

The minor modifications, intended to overcome some of the defects of the Type 30, including converting the gun-sight's rear sight leaf (rear sight ladder) from slide-out to a , and adding a . Unlike the

Type 38 rifle The is a bolt-action service rifle that was used by the Empire of Japan predominantly during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Second World War. The design was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1905 (the 38th year of the Meiji period, henc ...

bolt action, the crudely designed dust cover was not connected to the bolt action, and had to be manually moved before and after firing. However, the modified design was unable to overcome the shortcomings of the Type 30, and it was superseded by the

. The dust cover design, slightly modified, was also used on the Type 46 rifles and Type 47 carbines made for Siam that was also made at the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal around the same time.

Variants

Type Hiroki sub-caliber training device The Type Hiroki

sub-caliber training Sub-caliber training is used to save wear and expense when training with a larger gun by use of smaller weapons (sometimes, but not always, with very similar ballistic characteristics). The smaller weapons could be inserted into the larger weapo ...

device was system designed to be temporarily fastened to a cannon barrel. The device was used to train Imperial Japanese Navy gun crews in basic cannon fire control operation. The device was formed around a stripped down Type 35 action made for this specific purpose. The Type 35 action is like the standard Type 35 rifles, including the stamped Imperial Chrysanthemum, except it lacks a serial number stamped on the action itself and is lacking the manually actuated dust cover. Some of these rifles, stripped from the rest of its device, may have been made into some of the "02/45" rifles. 02/45 rifle Little is known about these rifles, including its official designation, if it ever had one at all. Its name is what collectors refer to them as: 02 as in 1902 when the Type 35s were adopted and 45 as in 1945 when the rifles were supposedly made. The maker is thought, but not confirmed, to be Izawa Firearms Manufactory in Osaka as the company was extensively involved in the making of training rifles and machine guns of the type that parts were used in the making of "02/40" rifles. Pre-production Type 35 models, barreled actions from Hiroki sub-caliber training devices, and uncompleted rifles that were left in storage were mated with Type 99 long rifle training rifle stocks and parts to make functional rifles for the ever-desperate Japanese war effort. Most do not have serial numbers and dust covers. Some of the barrels used in construction of these rifles have reject stamps on them and some of the Type 35 receivers have markings indicating they were scrapped or decommissioned. After using up all the Type 35, 38 and 30 barrels they had on hand, the makers started using training machine gun barrels. Some of these rifles were reported to have been used on

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Accessories

The Type 35 bayonet was a slightly modified

Type 30 bayonet The is a bayonet that was designed for the Imperial Japanese Army to be used with the Arisaka Type 30 Rifle, which was later used on the Type 38 and Type 99 rifles, the Type 96 and Type 99 light machine guns, and the Type 100 submachine gun ...

made specifically for the Type 35 rifle. The dimensions of the bayonet is almost exactly the same as the Type 30 bayonet. The only real difference between the two is the addition of a spring catch that hooks into the scabbard when not in use.

Users

* : A few captured from Red Finns or left behind in Finland during World War I. Later used by the Civil Guard. * :

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

: Bought from Japan during World War I. *

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 ...

: A few supplied for testing or as sale samples. *: Rifles sourced from the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

were used during the Spanish Civil War.

Bibliography

*Honeycutt Jr., Fred L. and Anthony, Patt F. ''Military Rifles of Japan.'' Fifth Edition, 2006. Julin Books, U.S.A. . *Allan, Francis C.; White, Doss H.; Zielinkski, Dr. Stanley. ''The Early Arisakas'' 2006. AK Enterprises, U.S.A. .

References

{{WWIRussianArms Bolt-action rifles of Japan Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1902 World War I Japanese infantry weapons World War II infantry weapons of Japan