Japanese Infantry Weapons of WWII

The program starts with the attack on Pearl Harbor then talks about the Japanese soldiers who had 'unwavering faith and devotion to the Empire.'

The Imperial Japan of the early 20th century had a history of winning.

He says the Japanese had developed 'victory disease', believing that they could not lose. He notes that the Japanese during WWII did not keep up with technological changes in weaponry. (They were working on some projects like a jet, but what they managed to accomplish was too little, too late.)

Most of their soldiers during the war were recruited from the peasant stock. They were brutally trained and could endure severe hardship.

They thought their fighting spirit could beat anything, including bullets and bombs.

The Imperial Army infantryman of 1941. He had leather belts and cases for ammunition, but these did not hold up well under humid conditions.

The typical infantryman rifle was basically unchanged since 1905. Further, the bullets were smaller than those from American rifles. The American bullet is on the left.

The Type 38 Japanese rifle.

The Type 14 pistol. The American Colt 45 was a more powerful weapon.

At the start of the war the Japanese army had lots of weapons and ammunition. The one-cent Japanese coins were withdrawn from circulation, melted down, and the copper was used in the manufacture of bullets.

The Battle of Midway changed the direction of the war. The Japanese troops were going to have a lot of jungle fighting. Their weapons were not designed for jungle warfare, though.

For most of the war they went without using sub-machine guns which would have helped them in the jungle battles.

The Type 99 rifle. It used a different type of bullet than the other guns, though, and that became a problem.

The Type 94 pistol. It could accidentally fire quite easily.

The Type 3 heavy machine gun.

The Type 11 light machine gun. It had more than thirty parts and a hopper system that was prone to not work, plus it had problems with dirt and grit.

The Type 96 light machine gun. The demand outstripped the ability to build the weapons, though.

Japanese morale fell on Guadalcanal island and this just reinforced their willingness to fight to the last man.

This led to the use of banzai charges against strongly fortified positions. This naturally led to severe numbers of death among Japanese troops.

The program moves quickly through various other battles on to the time when the American bombers were able to attack Japan directly and destroy much of that country's ability to manufacture weapons.

By then Japanese arms were being made as quickly as possible, but from the lowest quality materials. Even the ammunition was not of good quality.

Even school girls were put to work making guns. The Substitute Type 99 came out which was an ultra-simplified rifle.

One of the things that led to Japan's defeat was the tremendous difference between Japan and the American in relation to manufacturing ability. More light machine guns were being produced in America in one month than Japan was able to produce during the entire war.

The Type 92 heavy machine gun, used a lot in the battle for Iwo Jima.

The battle on Okinawa was also vicious. One of the people on the film says the Japanese never were able to develop a defense that would continue to work against the Allies because the Allies learned from each new form of defense ways to ultimate defeat it. It would longer and result in more Allied casualties, but each Japanese defense would eventually be overcome.

The Type 89 Heavy Grenade Discharger.

The Type 100 sub-machine gun.

After surrender Japanese guns and ammunition were rounded up and thrown into the ocean.

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