List of Japanese weapons for future campaigns

[aizenns]

Introduction

Recently we often see suggestion or expectations for Japanese forces. However, about Japanese weapons there are some confusions like year and places. For purpose of discussion I made several tables of weapons and their adopted year, service and number of production.
Additionally, for armored vehicles I made general sheet for campaigns where they fought. I hope it can be help to find where Japanese tanks fought.
Mainly I listed WW2 weapon. Very old weapon are not listed.

Please note that model year (“Type XX”) and actual adopted year are different. In example of “Type 97 Sniper Rifle”, “97” means imperial era 2597 = western era 1937, but actually it was adopted in 1939.
In many case, weapons enter service after adopted but there are several exceptions. For example, mass-production of Type 99 Short Rifle was started since 1941 in spite of it was adopted in 1939.

About Translation

Basically, in English-speaking countries, the translation method of Japanese weapon names is not unified depending on the weapon, which causes confusion. In this post, names of each weapons have been translated based on the table below.

Translation Table

• 年式: Year Type
• 式: Type
• 型: Model
• 号: Mark
• 改: Kai (=“modified”)
• 試製: Experimental
• 甲: Ko (=“A”)
• 乙: Otsu (=“B”)
• 丙: Hei (=“C”)
• イ号: I-Go (=Mark A)
• ロ号: Ro-Go (=Mark B)
• ハ号: Ha-Go (=Mark C)
• 歩兵銃: Infantry Rifle (Useally it should just be translated as “Rifle”)
• 騎銃: Carbine
• 小銃: Rifle
• 短小銃: Short Rifle
• 海軍銃: Naval Rifle
• 狙撃銃: Sniper Rifle
• 自動小銃: Automatic Rifle (=Semi-Auto Rifle)
• 自動拳銃: Automatic Pistol (自動: automatic / 拳銃: handgun) - Naval SMG or Semi-Auto Pistol
• 機関短銃: Machine Pistol (機関: machine / 短銃: handgun) - Army name of SMG
• 軽機関銃: Light Machine Gun (機関銃: Army name of “machine gun”)
• 機銃: Machine Gun (機銃: Navy name of “machine gun”)
• 車載: Vehicle-mounted
• 拳銃: Handgun / Pistol
• 自動拳銃: Automatic Pistol (= Semi-Auto Pistol )
• 擲弾器: Grenade Launcher (Rifle Grenade Launcher)
• 擲弾筒: Grenade Discharger (Light Infantry Motor)
• 火焔発射機: Flamethrower
• 自動砲: Automatic Cannon (=semi-automatic heavy anti-tank rifle)
• 軽戦車: Light Tank
• 中戦車: Medium Tank
• 重戦車: Heavy Tank
• 砲戦車: Gun Tank
• 自走砲: Self-Propelled Gun
• 内火艇: Motorboat
• 装甲車: Armored Car (a full-tracked tankette)
• 装甲自動車: Armored Car (a truck chassis armored car)
• 機銃車: Machine Gun Car (tankette or motorcycle with armed sidecar)

Rifle

Service Rifle / Carbine

Table (Service Bolt-Action Rifle/Carbine during WW2)

Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
30th Year Type Infantry Rifle 三十年式歩兵銃	1897	554,000	Yes	Already retired
30th Year Type Carbine 三十年式騎銃	1897	45,000	Yes	Already retired
35th Year Type Naval Rifle 三十五年式海軍銃	1902	38,200	Yes	Used by Navy
Type 38 Infantry Rifle 三八式歩兵銃	1905	3,400,000	Yes
Type 38 Carbine 三八式騎銃	1905	517,800	Yes
Type 38 Short Rifle 三八式短小銃	1930-40s?	100,000 (convert)	Yes
Type 44 Carbine 四四式騎銃	1911	91,900	Yes
Type 99 Rifle 九九式小銃	1939	38,000	Yes	Mass production of Type 99 Rifle/Short Rifle were started since 1941.
Type 99 Short Rifle 九九式短小銃	1939	2,500,000	Yes	Normally it is called just “Type 99 Rifle”
Type 99 Rifle "Special" 九九式小銃(特)	1940s		Probably Yes	Naval model of Type 99 Short rifle
Simple Rifle 簡易小銃	1945	150,000 (planned)	No	For coastal garrisons on mainland Single-shot bolt-action rifle
National Simple Rifle (boltaction) 国民簡易小銃	1945	?	No	For military reserve forces Single-shot bolt-action rifle Using 8 mm Nambu pistol cartridge
National Simple Rifle (matchlock type) 国民簡易小銃(火縄銃)	1945	?	No	Primitive matchlock gun. Using hand-made bullet and black powder For militias
Rocket Rifle 噴進銃	1945?	?	No	Naval rifle with 25 mm rocket. Substitute of infantry rifle

Table (Outdated Rifles)

Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
13th Year Type Murata Infantry Rifle 十三年式村田歩兵銃	1880	80,000	Yes	Ammo: 11x60R Murata Single-Shot
18th Year Type Murata Infantry Rifle 十八年式村田歩兵銃	1885	90,000	Yes	Ammo: 11x60R Murata Single-Shot
18th Year Type Murata Carbine 十八年式村田騎銃	1885	10,000	Yes	Ammo: 11x60R Murata Single-Shot
22th Year Type Murata Repeating-Fire Rifle 二十二年式村田連発銃	1889	Unknown	Yes	Ammo: 8x53R Murata
22th Year Type Murata Repeating-Fire Carbine 二十二年式村田連発騎銃	1889	Unknown	Yes	Ammo: 8x53R Murata
Type Ma Rifle Martini-Henry 馬式小銃	19th Century	Unknown	Yes	Used by SNLF until 30th Year Type Naval Rifle was adopted.

Note: “Type 16 Murata Carbine” is not exist in Japanese sources. It will be confused 18th Year Type Carbine (Type 18)

Table (Prototype and others)

Rifle	Build Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Improved Murata Repeating-Fire Rifle 改正村田連発銃	1902	?	No	Naval Project. Modified version of 22th Year Type Murata rifle with modified magazine which is able to use clip.
Experimental Model Ko 7.7 mm Infantry Rifle 試製甲号七粍七歩兵銃	1929	?	No
Experimental 7.7 mm Infantry Rifle, Plan 1 試製七粍七歩兵銃, 第一案	1938	?	No	Prototype of Type 99 Rifle Designed by Nagoya Arsenal
Experimental 7.7 mm Infantry Rifle, Plan 2 試製七粍七歩兵銃, 第二案	1938	?	No	Prototype of Type 99 Rifle Designed by Kokura Arsenal
Type 99 Short Rifle with Type 99 LMG’s 30 ammo magazine	1944?	?	?	Name is unknown.

Sources:

• Improved Murata Repeating-Fire Rifle
  海軍採用式小銃審議試験并採用の件（２）
  

• Type 99 Short Rifle with Type 99 LMG’s magazine
  Link
  

Paratrooper’s Rifle

Type 2 rifles was also used by ordinally soldiers to fill the shortage

Table (Service Paratrooper Rifle)

Paratrooper Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 2 Rifle 二式小銃	1942	19,000	Yes	For army paratrooper takedown rifle aka “Te-Ra” rifle
Type 99 Rifle (For Raiding) 九九式小銃(挺進用)	1943		Probably Yes	For army paratrooper takedown rifle

Table (Experimental Paratrooper Rifle)

Paratrooper Rifle	Build Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Experimental Type 100 Rifle 試製一〇〇式小銃	1940	Prototype	No	Experimental takedown rifle basis on Type 99 sort rifle for paratrooper
Experimental Type 1 Rifle 試製一型小銃	1941	Prototype	No	Experimental folding-stock rifle basis on Type 38 carbine for paratrooper
Experimental Te-Ra Rifle 試製テラ銃	early 1940s?	Prototype	No	Experimental take-down rifle basis on Type 99 sort rifle for paratrooper “Te-Ra” is initial of “Teishin”(挺進, “raiding”) and “Rakkasan” (落下傘, “parachute”).

Rifle Grenade Launcher

Table

Rifle Grenade	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 91 Grenade Launcher 九一式擲弾器			Yes
Type 100 Grenade Launcher 一〇〇式擲弾器	1940		Yes	For Type 38 rifle, Type 38 carbine, Type 99 rifle and Type 99 short rifle
Type 2 Grenade Launcher 二式擲弾器	1942		Yes	Anti-tank rifle grenade For Type 38 rifle

Import/Export Rifle

Table

Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type Mo Rifle Model I Mauser Standardmodel M1924 モ式小銃I型	1938 (inport)	50,000 (total of imported Mauser Rifles)	Yes	Infantry model "Mo"(モ) is initial of “Mauser”(モーゼル, Moseru) in Japanese
Type Mo Rifle Model II Karabiner 98 Kurz モ式小銃II型	1938		Yes	Cavalry model
Type Mo Rifle Model III Brno vz.24 モ式小銃III型	1938		Yes	Infantry & cavalry dual-use model
Type Mo Rifle 中正式步槍 モ式小銃	1930-40s	40,000 (Manchurian Arsenal)	Yes	Chinese “Chiang Kai-shek rifle” produced in Manchurian arsenal and captured Chinese arsenals. It was produced for Manchuria, Nanjing government, Thailand army etc. At the late of war, such Mauser rifles were also used by Japanese army.
Type I Rifle イ式小銃	1938	60,000	Yes	Mainly used by Navy “I”(イ) is initial of “Italy”(イタリア, Italia) in Japanese
Siamese Mauser style rifle ปืน ร.ศ. 121	1903		Yes, by Thailand	There’s variants as below: Type 46 rifle, Type 47 carbine, Type 46/66 rifle and Type 47/66 carbine. They were manufactured in Japanese arsenal, but all of them were exported to Siam/Thailand.

Sniper Rifle

Table

Sniper Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 38 Kai Sniper Rifle 三八式改狙撃銃	1939	(convert)	Yes
Type 97 Sniper Rifle 九七式狙撃銃	1939	22,500	Yes
Type 99 Sniper Rifle 九九式狙撃銃	1942		Probably Yes
Type 99 Short Sniper Rifle 九九式短狙撃銃	1942	10,000	Yes

Captured Rifle

Japanese captured lots of rifles. In Japanese documents, such rifles were called as below.

• 中国式小銃 (Chinese Rifle)
  • Probably Zhongzheng Rifle, Type 88 Rifle etc.
  • Their ammunition, “モ式小銃弾薬包” (Mauser Rifle Cartridge, 7.92×57mm Mauser) was adopted and mass-produced at Japanese arsenal for these rifles.
• 英式小銃 (British Rifle)
  • Probably Lee-Enfield Rifle.
  • They are using “米式小銃弾薬包” (American Rifle Cartridge, probably it means .30-06 Springfield). This ammunition was not mass-produced at Japanese arsenal.
• 米式小銃 (American Rifle)
  • Probably M1903 Springfield, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine etc.
  • Due to such weapons were captured early time of war, most of the captured ones are Springfield

Semi-Auto Rifle

Japanese operated several captured weapons include M1 Carbine and Garand. Different to Chinese captured weapons, they did not mass-produced ammunition for U.S. rifles, but some extent of them were deployed and used in the front unit.
Especially in battlefields like the Philippines, a large number of U.S. weapons were captured, so it seems that a considerable number were used in the defense of Philippines in 1944-45.

Table

Semi-Auto Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Hino Automatic Rifle 日野式自動小銃	1897	Prototype	No	Experimental blow-forward semi-auto rifle
Experimental Automatic Rifle Ko 試製自動小銃甲	1930s	Prototype	No	Experimental semi-auto rifle Project cancelled due to start of war There were “Long” and “Short” model. Also, there were sniper variant.
Experimental Automatic Rifle Otsu 試製自動小銃乙	1930s	Prototype	No
Experimental Automatic Rifle Hei 試製自動小銃丙	1930s	Prototype		There were “Long” and “Short” model. Also, there were sniper variant.
Type 4 Automatic Rifle 四式自動小銃	1944	180	No	For Naval paratroopers
M1 Carbine	1940s	?	Yes	Captured weapon. It was popular because of its small Japanese physique.
M1 Garand	1940s	?	Yes	Captured weapon. It was bigger than the carbine and was a little unpopular among Japanese soldiers.

Submachine Gun

Japanese navy often used SMG for naval landing forces since the start of war. Also, Army’s SMG are limited but in late-war battles some Type 100 were operated.

Service SMG

Table

Submachine Gun	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type Be Automatic Pistol SIG-Bergmann M1920 ベ式自動拳銃	1931	About hundreds?	Yes	Used by Navy landing forces "Be"(ベ) is initial of “Bergmann”(ベルグマン, Beruguman) in Japanese
Type Su Automatic Pistol Steyr-Solothurn S1-100 ス式自動拳銃	1930s	About hundreds?	Yes	Used by Navy landing forces “Su”(ス) is initial of “Steyr”(スタイヤー. Sutaiya) in Japanese
Type 100 Machine Pistol(Early Model) 一〇〇式機関短銃(初期型)	1942	Thousands	Yes	Initial production model. aka “Type100/42”
Type 100 Machine Pistol (Late Model) 一〇〇式機関短銃(後期型)	1944	9,000	Yes	Late model increased rate of fire to simplify production
Type 100 Machine Pistol Special Model 一〇〇式機関短銃特型	1940s	Converted from early model	Yes	For naval paratroopers

Experimental SMG

Table

Submachine Gun	Manfactured Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Experimental Automatic Pistol, First-stage prototype 試製自動短銃 第一次試作	1926	2	No	English name: “Tokyo Arsenal Model 1927”
Experimental Automatic Pistol, Second-stage prototype 試製自動短銃 第二次試作	1930	?	No	English name: “Tokyo Arsenal Model 1928”
Nambu Type Machine Pistol Mark 1 南部式機関短銃一号	1935	Prototype	No
Nambu Type Machine Pistol Mark 2 南部式機関短銃二号	1935	Prototype	No
Experimental Model 1 Machine Pistol 試製一型機関短銃	1936	4 prototypes	Yes	Tested on the actual battle at North China in 1938
Experimental Model 2 Machine Pistol 試製二型機関短銃	1937	4 prototypes	No
Experimental Model 2 Machine Pistol, Improved Vehicle-Mounted Type 試製二型機関短銃改良車載型	1944-45?	Uncertain	Yes	Not adopted until the end of war, but captured at Okinawa Designed as tanker’s submachine gun
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol 試製三型機関短銃	1939	14	?	Later, 10 guns modified
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol Mod. Ko 試製三型機関短銃改修甲	1939	5	?
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol Mod. Otsu 試製三型機関短銃改修乙	1939	5	?	Finally it was adopted as Type 100 machine pistol.

Specifications of Experimental SMGs

Name	Ammo (mm)	Magazine	Fire rate (rpm)	Velocity (m/s)	Weight	Total length
Experimental Automatic Pistol, First-stage prototype 試製自動短銃 第一次試作	8x22mm	50 ammo dram	1,200	360	2.2	250
Experimental Automatic Pistol, Second-stage prototype 試製自動短銃 第二次試作	8x22mm	18 ammo box	400-500?	-	3.3	265
Nambu Type Machine Pistol Mark 1 南部式機関短銃一号	6.5x30mm	30 ammo box	-	-	-	-
Nambu Type Machine Pistol Mark 2 南部式機関短銃二号	8x22mm	50 ammo box	500-600 (requirement)	-	-	-
Experimental Model 1 Machine Pistol 試製一型機関短銃	6.5x30mm	50 ammo box	-	-	2.6	-
Experimental Model 2 Machine Pistol 試製二型機関短銃	8x22mm	30 ammo box	600	335	2.9	648
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol 試製三型機関短銃	8x22mm	30 ammo box	530	-	3.435	1,100
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol Mod. Ko 試製三型機関短銃改修甲	8x22mm	30 ammo box	755	-	3.885	1,097
Experimental Model 3 Machine Pistol Mod. Otsu 試製三型機関短銃改修乙	8x22mm	30 ammo box	755	-	3.652	827

Note
6.5x30mm: Experimental Type 95 Cartridge
8x22mm: 14th Year Type Pistol Cartridge

Light Machine Gun

Table

Submachine Gun	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
11th Year Type Light Machine Gun 十一年式軽機関銃	1922	29,000	Yes
Type 91 Vehicle-Mounted Light Machine Gun 九一式車載軽機関銃	1932	2,000	Yes	LMG for tanks tankettes, and armored cars Have a bipod and stock for infantry
Type 96 Light Machine Gun 九六式軽機関銃	1938	41,000	Yes
Type 99 Light Machine Gun 九九式軽機関銃	1939	53,000	Yes
Type Chi 7.9 mm Light Machine Gun ZB26 チ式七粍九軽機関銃	1940	20,000	Yes	Captured ZB.26. Adopted in February 1940. “Chi”(チ) is initial of “Czech”(チェコ, Cheko / chi + e + ko) in Japanese
Type Ru Machine Gun Lewis Gun 留式機銃 Type 92 7.7 mm Machine Gun 九二式七粍七機銃	1910s	A lot	Yes	Naval landing force often used for ground battles "Ru"’(留, ル) is initial of “Lewis” (ルイス, Ruisu) in Japanese
Experimental Type 1 Light Machine Gun 試製一式軽機関銃	1941	Prototype	No	There is Model 1, 2 and 3
Experimental Type 3 Light Machine Gun 試製三式軽機関銃	1943	Prototype	No
Experimental Ultra-Light Machine Gun 試製超軽機関銃	1938	two prototypes	No

Handgun

In original Japanese names, “revolving pistol” and “semi-auto pistol” are not distinguished. For purpose of translation, I translated “二十六年式拳銃” to “26th Year Type Pistol”, but it is a “Revolver”.

Service Pistol

Table

Handgun	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
No.1 Model Handgun S&W Russian Model No.3 一番形拳銃	1870s	?	?	Imported by Japanese navy
No.2 Model Handgun S&W New Model No.3 二番形拳銃	1870s	?	?
No.3 Model Handgun pin-fire revolver 三番形拳銃	1870s	?	?
26th Year Type Pistol (Revolver) 二十六年式拳銃	1893	59,200	Yes	For officers, cavalries and military polices
Army-Type Pistol 陸式拳銃	1924	10,000	Yes	For Navy
14th Year Type Pistol 十四年式拳銃	1924	280,000	Yes	For gunners, tankers, drivers, pilots and paratroopers
Type 94 Pistol 九四式拳銃	1934	70,000	Yes	For officers
Type 2 Pistol 二式拳銃	1943	hundreds	Uncertain	Aka “Ha-Ke” pistol. Ha is initial of Hamada (浜田, name of designer), Ke is initial of Kenju (拳銃, Handgun)
North China Type 19 Pistol 北支一九式拳銃	1940s?	?	Probably Yes	Produced in occupied Beijing
Type Mo Large Pistol Mauser C96 モ式大型拳銃	1940	A lot	Yes	Captured Chinese C96. Adopted in February 1940.
Luger P08	1942	3,000	Yes	Captured from Dutch East Indies For officers
National Simple Pistol 国民簡易拳銃	1945	?	No	Matchlock pistol for militias.
Type 4 Double-Barrel Shotgun Pistol 四式二連装霞弾拳銃	1944?	?	No	double-barrel handgun for 12-guage shotgun ammunition substitute of machine pistol.

Officer’s personal handguns (Commercially available, made in Japan)

Officers purchased own handgun from market. Due to this system, Japanese army used a huge number of types of pistols.
Domestic-production pistols were cheaper than imported goods and was attractive to poor officers.
Apparently , in English speaking area such Japanese pistols have strange customary names. For purpose of them I noted such names. I’m not sure because I’m Japanese, so if there’s mistake please tell me.

Table

Handgun	Release Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Nambu Type Large Automatic Pistol (Ko) 南部式大型自動拳銃(甲)	1902	10,000?	Yes	Ko model can equip stock English name: Grandpa Nambu
Nambu Type Large Automatic Pistol (Otsu) 南部式大型自動拳銃(乙)	1902		Yes	It is adopted by Navy and named “Army-Type Pistol”. Modified version is adopted by Army and named “14th Year Type Pistol”. English name: Papa Nambu
Nambu Type Small Automatic Pistol 南部式小型自動拳銃	1900s?	?	Yes	English name: Baby Nambu
Hino Type Automatic Pistol 日野式自動拳銃	1908	1,200	Yes	English name: “Hino-Komuro M1908”
Sugiura Type Automatic Pistol 杉浦式自動拳銃	1920s	6,000	Yes
Type 1 Pistol 一式拳銃			yes	Aka “Hamada-Type Pistol”
Inagaki Type Automatic Pistol 稲垣式自動拳銃	1940	500	Yes	Seems to be used by Naval pilots and officers

Officer’s personal handguns (Commercially available, imported)

There’re really lots of pistols. I can’t list all of them.
Generally, FN Browning M1910 and Colt M1903 Pocket Hammerless were popular among officers. However, they also used lots of various pistols of FN, Colt, Mauser, Astra, Ruby, Royal, Ortgies etc.

Heavy Weapons

Personal-Carried Motor

In this table, I listed 5-cm caliber light-weight infantry motors which is suitable for the game.
Generally, Japanese “light” motor corresponds to Western “heavy” motor, and Japanese “heavy” motor corresponds to Western “siege” gun. Caliber of Japanese light motors were about 90-150 mm, and heavy motors were 275-305 mm!
Also, sometimes “motor” are called “grenade launcher” or “infantry gun” so it make confusion.

Table

Motor	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
10th Year Type Grenade Discharger 十年式擲弾筒	1925	7,000	Yes	Ammunition was hand grenade.
Type 89 Heavy Grenade Discharger 八九式重擲弾筒	1932	120,000	Yes	Ammunition was HE shell or hand grenade

Flamethrower

Table

Flamethrower	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Mark 1 Flamethrower 一号火焔発射機	1920s		Yes	Outdated weapon. Used by Navy Landing Forces
Type 93 Small Flamethrower 九三式小火焔発射機	1934		Yes
Type 100 Flamethrower 一〇〇式火焔発射機	1940		Yes

Anti-Tank Rifle

Generally speaking, Japanese did not had light-weight anti-tank rifles which is in the game.

Table

Anti-Tank Rifle	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
13.2 mm Manual Cannon 一三粍手動砲	1935	2	No	Experimental bolt-action anti-tank rifle. Total weight: ~12kg
Type 97 Auto Cannon 九七式自動砲	1938	1200	Yes	Total weight: 59.1 kg

Personal-Carried Anti-Tank Rockets / Recoilless Gun

Table

Anti-Tank Rocket/Recoilless Gun	Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
8 cm Rocket Launcher 八糎噴進砲	1944		Probably Yes	Naval rocket launcher Sent to Philippines Some naval garrisons at Chine equipped it
Experimental Type 4 7cm Rocket Launcher 試製四式七糎噴進砲	1944	3,500	No	aka “Ro-Ta”
Experimental 9 cm Rocket Launcher 試製九糎噴進砲	1944	Prototype	No
Experimental 9 cm Paratrooper Rocket Launcher 試作九糎空挺隊用噴進砲	1944	Prototype	No
Experimental Type 5 45 mm Recoilless Gun 試製五式四十五粍簡易無反動砲	1944	12	No

Engineer’s Construction Weapon

Heavy Machine Gun

Table

Heavy Machine Gun	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 38 Machine Gun 三八式機関銃	1907
3rd Year Type Machine Gun 三年式機関銃	1914	3,000	Yes
Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun 九二式重機関銃	1933	45,000	Yes
Type 97 Vehicle-Mounted Heavy Machine Gun 九七式車載重機関銃	1938	18,000	Yes	It is “heavy” machine gun, but able to operate as light machine gun with bipod.
Type 98 Water-Cooled Heavy Machine Gn 九八式水冷式重機関銃	1938	1,506	Yes	Used by garrison on the border with the Soviet Union
Type 1 Heavy Machine Gun 一式重機関銃	1942	?	Yes
Experimental Type 4 Vehicle-Mounted Heavy Machine Gun 試製四式車載重機関銃	1940s	Prototype	No

Anti-Aircraft Autocannon

Table

Anti-Aircraft Autocannon	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 92 Vehicle-Mounted 13 mm Autocannon 九二式車載十三粍機関砲	1932		Yes	Main gun of Type 92 Heavy Armored Car.
Type Ho 13 mm AA Autocannon Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun ホ式十三粍高射機関砲	1933	import	Yes	“Ho” is initial of Hotchkiss Twin mount
Type 93 13 mm Machine Gun Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun 九三式十三粍機銃	1933		Yes	License production model of Hotchkiss Single and Twin mounts Used by Navy
Type 96 25 mm Machine Gun 九六式二十五粍機銃	1936	32,380	Yes	Single, Twin and Triple mounts Used by Navy
Type 98 20 mm AA Autocannon 九八式二十粍高射機関砲	1939	2,600	Yes	Single Mount
Type 1 37 mm AA Autocannon 37 mm FlaK36 一式三十七粍高射機関砲	1941	10	No	License production
Type 2 20 mm AA Autocannon 二式二十粍高射機関砲	1942			Improved version of Type 98
Type 4 Cylinder-Mount 20 mm AA Autocannon 四式基筒双連二十粍高射機関砲	1944	500	Yes	Twin mount of Type 98 aka “So-Ki”. So is initial of Souren (双連, twin), and Ki is initial of Kikanhou (機関砲, Autocannon) Twin mount
Type 5 40 mm Anti-Aircraft Autocannon 五式四十粍高射機関砲	1945	dozens	Yes	Single Mount Copy of Bofors 40mm L/60 Used by not only army but also navy

Anti-Tank Gun

Generally speaking, Japanese anti-tan guns cannot penetrate front armor of M4 Sherman. Because of it, for late war campaign, 75 mm field guns are necessary.

Table

Anti-Tank Gun	Adopted Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 94 37 mm Gun 九四式三十七粍砲	1934	3,400	Yes
Experimental Type 97 47 mm Gun 試製九七式四十七粍砲	1937	Prototype	No
Type 1 37 mm Gun 一式三十七粍砲	1943	A few	No
Type 1 Mobile 47 mm Gun 一式機動四十七粍砲	1942	2,300	Yes	“Mobile” means it can be towed by vehicle by the rubber tire
Experimental Mobile 57 mm Gun 試製機動五十七粍砲	1942	Prototype	No
Type 90 Field Gun 九〇式野砲	1932	200	Yes	It was 75 mm field gun Sometimes it was also used as an anti-tank gun
Mobile Type 90 Field Gun 機動九〇式野砲	1935	600	Yes	Type 90 field gun with rubber tire

Armored Fighting Vehicles

I did not listed AA tank, APC, unarmed tractor etc.
Also, uncompleted vehicles like Ho-Ri, Ka-To etc. are not listed, too.

Meaning of secret codenames under development

header

• Chi: Medium Tank
• Ke: Light Tank
• Ho:: Gun Tank / Self-Propelled Gun

footer

• I: A
• Ro: B
• Ha: C
• Ni: D
• Ho: E
• He: F
• To: G
• Chi: H
• Ri: I
• Nu: J
• Ru: K
• Wo: L
  snip

Tanks

Table

Tank	Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 89 Medium Tank Ko "I-Go" 八九式中戦車甲	1929	220	Yes
Type 89 Medium Tank Otsu "I-Go" 八九式中戦車乙	1935	184	Yes
Experimental Medium Tank "Chi-Ni" 試製中戦車 チニ車	1937	1	No	Lost to Chi-Ha in the competition and was not adopted.
Type 97 Medium Tank "Chi-Ha" 九七式中戦車	1938	1,162	Yes
Type 97 Medium Tank Kai "Chi-Ha" 九七式中戦車改	1942	930	Yes
Experimental Type 98 Medium Tank "Chi-Ho" 試製九八式中戦車	1939	1	No
Type 1 Medium Tank "Chi-He" 一式中戦車	1944	170	No
Type 3 Medium Tank "Chi-Nu" 三式中戦車	1944	166	No
Type 4 Medium Tank "Chi-To" 四式中戦車	1945	2	No	Prototype #1: 57 mm TKG Prototype #2: 75 mm TKG
Type 5 Medium Tank "Chi-Ri" 五式中戦車	1945	1 (under construction)	No
Type 95 Heavy Tank "Ro-Go" 九五式重戦車	1935	4	No
Type 95 Light Tank "Ha-Go" 九五式軽戦車	1935	2,378	Yes
Type 98 Light Tank "Ke-Ni" 九八式軽戦車	1939	113	No
Type 2 Light Tank "Ke-To" 二式軽戦車	1944	29	No
Type 3 Light Tank 三式軽戦車	1943?	?	No
Type 4 Light Tank 四式軽戦車	1944?	?	No
Type 5 Light Tank 五式軽戦車	1945?	?	No
Special Type 2 Motorboat "Ka-Mi" 特二式内火艇	1942	180	Yes	Naval Amphibious Tank "Ka-Mi" is taken from name of designer, Kaminishi (上西)
Special Type 3 Motorboat "Ka-Chi" 特三式内火艇	1943	19	No	Naval Amphibious Tank "Ka" is initial of “Kaigun” (海軍, “Navy”), and “Chi” is initial of “Chusensha” (中戦車, “Medium-Tank”, Chu = Chi + yu)

SPGs

Table

SPG	Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type 1 7.5 cm Self-Propelled Gun "Ho-Ni I" 一式七糎半自走砲	1942	50	Yes	aka “Type 1 Gun Tank”
Type 1 10 cm Self-Propelled Gun “Ho-Ni II”	1942	70	Partially Yes	Sent to Luzon, but sunk with transport ship during unloading.
Type 2 Gun Tank "Ho-I" 二式砲戦車	1944	30	No
Type 3 Gun Tank "Ho-Ni III" 三式砲戦車	1944	60-100	No
Type 4 15 cm Self-Propelled Gun "Ho-Ro" 四式十五糎自走砲	1944	25	Yes	Prototypes sent to Luzon
Experimental Type 4 12 cm Self-Propelled Gun "Ho-To" 試製四式十二糎自走砲	1944	1	No
Experimental Type 5 47mm Self-Propelled Gun "Ho-Ru" 試製五式四十七粍自走砲	1945	?	No	No photo or blueprint discovered
Experimental Type 5 15 cm Self-Propelled Gun "Ho-Chi" 試製五式十五糎自走砲	1945	?	No	No photo or blueprint discovered Project cancelled or not is unknown
Experimental 7.5 cm Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Gun "Na-To" 試製七糎半対戦車自走砲	1945	1	No
12 cm Gun Tank 十二糎砲戦車	1945	14	No	Naval SPG based upon Type 97 MTK
"Long 12 cm Self-Propelled Gun" 長十二糎自走砲	1945	1	No	No official name. Naval SPG based upon Type 97 MTK

Tankette / Armored Car

Table

Tankette & Armored Car	Year	Number of production	Did it put into battle?	note
Type Ka Machine Gun Car Carden-Loyd Tankette Mk.VIb カ式機銃車	1930	6	Yes	“Ka” is initial of Carden Loyd (カーデンロイド, Kaden Roido) in Japanese.
Type 92 Heavy Armored Car 九二式重装甲車	1932	167	Yes
Type 94 Light Armored Car "TK" 九四式軽装甲車	1934	843	Yes	“TK” is initial of “Tokushu”(Special) and “Ken’insha”(Tractor) in Roma-Ji
Type 97 Light Armored Car "Te-Ke" 九七式軽装甲車	1938	6161	Yes
Type Bi Armored Car Vickers-Crossley M25 Armoured Car 毘式装甲自動車	1928	9	Yes	“Bi” is initial of Vickers (ビッカース, Bikkasu) in Japanese For Shanghai SNLF
Type 93 Armored Car 九三式装甲自動車	1933	3	Yes	For Shanghai SNLF

Tanks and their battlefields

Table

Campaign	Type89 I-Go	Type95 Ha-Go	Type97 Chi-Ha	Type97 Chi-Ha Kai	Type1 Ho-Ni I	Type1 Ho-Ni II	Type4 Ho-Ro	Special Type2 Ka-Mi	M3 Stuart
2nd Sino- Japanese War 1937-45	◯	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-
Battle of Khalkhin Gol 1939	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-	-
Malaya Campaign 1941-42	-	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-	-
Philippine Campaign 1941-42	◯	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	◯
Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-42	-	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-	-
Burma Campaign 1941-45	-	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	◯
Solomon Islands Campaign 1942-45	-	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-	-
New Guinea Campaign 1942-45	-	◯	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Aleutian Islands Campaign 1942-43	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign 1943-44	-	◯	-	-	-	-	-	◯	-
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign 1944	-	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	◯	-
Philippine Campaign 1944-45	◯	◯	◯	◯	◯	◯	◯	◯	◯
Battle of Iwo Jima 1945	-	◯	-	◯	-	-	-	-	-
Battle of Okinawa 1945	◯	◯	-	◯	-	-	-	-	-
Battle of Manchuria 1945	◯	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	-	-
Battle of Kuril Islands 1945	-	◯	◯	◯	-	-	-	◯	-

[Upolaf]

When I look at the SMG and Semi-auto Rifle list

[aizenns]

Well, at least SMG are still better that semi-auto rifles… MP18/20, MP28, S1-100, Type 100 early, late, navy were not a prototype and used on actual battles.
Semi-auto rifles are serious problem… so I want to see early WW2 battles than late for Japanese.

[US_Matt_LT]

I am not gonna read everything, since i already did my levels post. But have my like friend. I can see that this is well writen, organised!

[gastanofrizzi]

small note, if we could make the Japanese high-end bolt-action shoot with a ROF 90-100 we could avoid giving them semi-automatic since they have never used it and avoid finding ourselves due to laziness of the development team with the Japanese who use the gewer41

[aizenns]

I forgot to list, but Japanese used semi-auto rifles like M1 Carbine and Garand, too. M1 Garand was unpopular because it was too large, but M1 Carbine was popular among soldiers because of their small physique.
Especially, in the battle of Philippines etc., Japanese garrisons often equipped with such captured weapons. (Of course, there would have been more Springfield guns than those.)

At least, I believe they are better than Gewehr 41 or bolt-action with unhistorical extreme rate of fire.

[gastanofrizzi]

@aizenns

I forgot to list, but Japanese used semi-auto rifles like M1 Carbine and Garand, too. M1 Garand was unpopular because it was too large, but M1 Carbine was popular among soldiers because of their small physique

Is a gigantic no! at this point we might as well give them the stg as in COD and call it a day

[aizenns]

Oh really?
I thought it sounds still better than German weapons…

[gastanofrizzi]

Give the same weapon to both faction is good for you, wy dont give ppsh41 to german in berlin and moscow at this point because they used captured ppsh41 or t34-85

[LordBeaverbroke]

Thanks for doing this, this will make any of my future proposals far easier. Also, I have seen reports of US troops capturing Type Hei Rifles while island hopping, or a version of the Pederson Rifle chambered in 6.5 x 50 mm Arisaka, about equal to 6.5 x 52mm Carcano which could make it a counter to the M1 Carbine. I also saw you accidently wrote the Experimental Automatic Rifle Otsu on the table twice. Was one of them supposed to be a Type Hei Rifle?

[aizenns]

I’ve heard Type Hei captured at any website but I don’t know well… (I’m Japanese and not familiar with English so its hard for me to search US docs)
Anyway if the war hadn’t broke out, it might make sense to put them in as an alternative, as it was either Ko or hei that was adopted.

@LordBeaverbroke

I also saw you accidently wrote the Experimental Automatic Rifle Otsu on the table twice. Was one of them supposed to be a Type Hei Rifle?

Yes, its my mistake. I fixed it. Thank you!

[aizenns]

Update:
Added late-war strange weapons. (25 mm rocket rifle and Type 4 double-barrel hand shotgun)

[aizenns]

If you searching full-automatic rifle for Japanese, this weapon seems better.
In my personal opinion, multiple Japanese soldiers are armed with this non-adopted experimental assault rifle is a nightmare, but I added to list for discussion.

Other photos and drawing

Overview
https://i.imgur.com/ymyAb3t.png
With shield
https://i.imgur.com/cWLKqaq.png
Disassembled
https://i.imgur.com/OvgPr0h.png
https://i.imgur.com/R55ffFY.png
https://i.imgur.com/oTBbvD5.png
Drawing
https://i.imgur.com/cx0IjcX.png

Due to I can’t find English website which is have data of this weapon, I wrote wrap up.
It was gas-operated toggle-lock light-weight machine gun for 6.5 mm Type 38 cartridge. Adoption was rejected due to its extremely low reliability.

Name: “Experimental Ultra-Light Machine Gun” (試製超軽機関銃)

item	data
Designer	Japan Special Steels (日本特殊鋼株式會社)
Ammunition	6.5x30mmSR Type 38
Magazine	20 rounds 30rounds
Caliber	6.5 mm
Rate of fire	720 rounds per minute
Length overall	1,007 mm
Length of barrel	528 mm
Total weight	5,400 g (model I) 5,650 g (model II)
Weight of barrel	1,855 g
Weight of magazine	402 g (20 rounds) 533 g (30 rounds)
Weight of shield	2,600 g
Bayonet	Attachable (30th Year Type?)

Evaluation by examiners (wrap up)

• The accuracy at the time of continuous firing is quite low.
• There is a risk of cocking-off if the barrel is loaded while it is heated.
• There is a defect in the safety device.
• It is worried about mass production during the war because I use a lot of patented bullions.
• It is inconvenient to handle because the magazine is on the lower side.
• The mounting position of the sighting device is bad, and it is difficult to aim at the time of continuous firing
• There are so many mess feed and it is difficult to shoot all 20 shots.
• The ejection system is Pedersen type, and there is almost no problem in operation.
• Fire rate is too high (720rpm) and it is not adjustable. Fire rate should be about 500 rpm.
• The rod was so fragile that I had to interrupt the test.
• Accuracy was worse than Type 99 LMG. Even if it is equipped with a shield and the weight is the same as Type 99, accuracy is still inferior.
• At the time of continuous firing, only the first bullet hit the target 300 m away, and the hit accuracy could not be calculated.
• Recoil was not measured, but gunner feel it is less than the 11th Year Type LMG.

Reference: 試製超軽機関銃審査の件 (About the trial Experimental Ultra-Light Machine Gun)

[LordBeaverbroke]

May I ask a favour? There are records of a 97 round pan magazine for the Type 92 machine gun. Do you know anything about this magazine, like if it has a name like the Patronentrommel for the MG 34? thanks

[Shiivex]

Nice list. Some I didn’t even knew.well done.

Side question.
The Japanese will be inferior to alies forces regarding weapons and specialty regarding tanks right?

[aizenns]

@LordBeaverbroke

May I ask a favour? There are records of a 97 round pan magazine for the Type 92 machine gun. Do you know anything about this magazine, like if it has a name like the Patronentrommel for the MG 34? thanks

As far as I know, army’s Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun (九二式重機関銃) did not had any pan magazine.
In case of navy’s Type 92 7.7 mm Machine Gun (九二式七粍七機関銃), it have standard 97 round pan magazine but it will not have any unique name because it is just a standard magazine. It was a licensed production model of the Lewis gun and magazine will not compatible with army’s Type 92 heavy machine gun: navy’s Type 92 is using rimmed 7.7x56mm cartridge (.303 British) but army’s Type 92 is using semi-rimmed 7.7x58mm cartridge (Type 92 cartridge) or rimless 7.7x58mm cartridge (Type 92 / Type 97 cartridge).

[aizenns]

@Shiivex

Nice list. Some I didn’t even knew.well done.

Side question.
The Japanese will be inferior to alies forces regarding weapons and specialty regarding tanks right?

Surely armored vehicles are inferior to US and British commonwealth army. It’s even jokingly said that the strongest tank in the Japanese army is the M3 Stuart. (Japanese army operated lots of captured M3 Stuart)

In other hand, in China, French Indochina (had only FT-17 and FT-31) or Dutch East Indies (had only armored cars), Japanese armored vehicles superior to such colonial forces’ tanks.

About infantry weapons, it may be a little difficult to evaluate.

Bolt-action rifle

Hit power of 6.5 mm (Arisaka) rifles will be inferior to Chinese 7.92 mm (Mauser) rifles or Allies 7.7 mm (Springfield) rifles. However, the recoil is small, so it may be suitable for sniping.

Semi-auto rifle

R.I.P.

Submachine gun

Pros

• Large 50 ammo magazine (SIG M1920)
• High rate of fire (Type 100 SMG/Late and Naval model, 700-800RPM)
• Have a bayonet

Cons

• Hit power is lower than .45ACP (Navy: 7.63x25mm Mauser / Army: 8x22mm Nambu)
• Low rate of fire (Type 100 SMG/Early, 450rpm)

details

Navy
Japanese navy used SIG-Bergman M1920 (MP18/20) and Steyr-Solothrn S1-100 (MP34o) SMGs. Both guns were using 7.63 mm so hit power is inferior to original German service, but I’m not sure comparison with allies.
S1-100 had 30 round magazine, but SIG M1920 had large 50 magazine so it will be good advantage. In addition, in Japanese service both SMGs had bayonets which is useful in close-range combat.

Army
Except for several prototypes, Japanese army had only Type 100 SMG but it is possible to separate to three models. They were using 8 mm 14th Year Type pistol cartridge (aka 8mm Nambu). I’m not sure about cartridge but muzzle energy was not a good (similar to .380 ACP).
In case of Early (1942) model, fire rate was limited to 450rpm. In Late (1944) model and Naval model, they omitted rate reducer to improve productivity so fire rate increased to 700-800 rpm. Early model has good accuracy in exchange for a slightly lower rate of fire, but the late model will have a higher instantaneous firepower but will be difficult to control the aim. It seems similar to relation of M3 SMG and M1 Thompson.
Similar to naval one, Type 100 SMGs also had bayonet. I think it will be useful.

Light machine gun

Pros

• Have a bayonet (Type 96, Type 99)
• Have a scope (Type 96, Type 99)
• Perhaps recoil is lower than other countries’ light machine guns
• Magazine is larger than Browning M1918 (20 rounds vs 30 rounds)

Cons

• Hit power is lower than rifles: they used “decreased powder” cartridge (減装弾)
• Caliber is small: 6.5 mm (11th Year Type, Type 96)
• Mundane rate of fire: 500-550 rpm
  Wikipedia says RoF of Type 99 is 700-800 rpm, but IJA and IJN documents say RoF is 550 rpm.
  Source 1: ８．兵器諸元表／主要兵器諸元表 / Source 2: 陸戦参考－第１号・陸戦兵器要目表

Shotgun

Japanese navy requisitioned about 50,000 shotguns for substitute of rifles at jungle warfare. All of them were 12-gauge which is similar to allies.
It include single-shot, double-barrel and repeating fire guns. They will include not only bolt-action, pump-action but also semi-automatic like Browning Auto-5.

Anti-tank weapon

Japanese anti-tank weapons are quite inferior to allies.
At most, 8cm rocket launcher (HEAT shell) of the navy was sent to battlefield but others like army’s Type 4 7.5cm rocket launcher had never sent to battlefield.
Generally they used magnetic mine, HEAT hand grenade and HEAT rifle grenade.

Also, Japanese anti-tank guns are limited to 47 mm. It cannot penetrate front armor of M4 Sherman and Matilda Mk.II. For late-war battlefields we need to implement field gun for engineer’s gun.

Infantry mortar

There will not be much difference between the two armies.
Type 89 Heavy Grenade Discharger seems similar to British Two-inch mortar. Also, compare to American M2 mortar, weight is lighter than it.

note:
Japanese “Light” mortar is not suitable for game because their caliber is 75 ~ 150 mm. (in-game mortar: about 50 mm)

[LordBeaverbroke]

Ok, thanks. I knew the Navy’s type 92 was often mounted on the back of light bombers, and that is why they used the larger mag, I just wanted to know if it had a unique name. I probably should have specified which Type 92 I was asking about. my bad.

[aizenns]

Don’t mind, Japanese weapon names always make confuse us…

p.s.
Navy landing forces’ infantry also used naval Type 92 (Lewis) machine gun with pan magazine for ground battles during WW2.

[aizenns]

A quick comparison of popular Japanese and American tanks
Data came from War Thunder (Enlisted is diverting assets from it)

Sheet

	Type 89 I-Go	Type95 Ha-Go	Type97 Chi-Ha	Type97 Chi-Ha Kai	Type 3 Chi-Nu	M3 Stuart	M3 Lee	M4 Sherman
Crew	4	3	4	5	5	3	6	5
Weapon	2x6.5mm 1x57mm	2x7.7mm 1x37mm	2x7.7mm 1x57mm	2x7.7mm 1x47mm	1x7.7mm 1x75mm	4x7.62mm 1x37mm	2x7.62mm 1x37mm 1x75mm	1x7.62mm 1x12.7mm 1x75mm
Main Gun Penetration (100m)	21mm (APHE) 55mm (HEAT)	33mm (APHE)	21mm (APHE) 55mm (HEAT)	75mm (APHE)	98mm (APHE)	65mm (AP) 72mm (APCBC)	82mm (AP) 94mm (APCBC)	88mm (AP) 101mm (APCBC)
Hull Armor (F/S/B)	17/17/17	12/12/10	25/25/20	25/25/20	50/25/20	38/25/25	50/38/38	50/38/38
Turret Armor (F/S/B)	17/15/15	30/12/12	25/25/25	25/25/25	50/25/25	38/25/25	50/50/50	76/50/50
Engine Power (HP)	118	120	170	170	240	262	400	400
Weight (t)	11.5	7.7	15.0	14.8	18.8	12.6	27.7	30.6
Power to Weight Ratio (HP/t)	10.2	15.6	11.3	11.5	12.7	20.8	14.4	13.0
Max speed (km/h)	27	48	40	40	39	50	39	38

p.s.
about Experimental SMGs

Summary

About Prototypes

Experimental automatic pistols: Very early prototypes build by Tokyo Arsenal. English name is “Tokyo Arsenal Model 1927” and “Tokyo Arsenal Model 1928”.
They were manufactured by Tokyo Arsenal (東京造兵廠, English name is “Koishikawa Arsenal”). First-stage prototype was tested in March 1927 and compared with Thompson and Bergmann. It had extremally high fire rate and reliability was low. Second-stage Prototype was manufactured in 1930. They improved first stage to increase weight and decrease fire rate. The project disappeared spontaneously and was taken over by research on new machine pistols.
Please note that naval project and this army’s competition did not have any relations.

Nambu machine pistol Mark 1 and Mark 2 were designed for basic research. Design of Nambu Mark 2 was succeeded by Experimental Model 1 machine pistol in 1936. It was tested in December 1936 but there were some issues. The problem was fixed and the second test was held in April 1937.
In parallel, Experimental Model 2 machine pistol was completed and tested in June 1937 but performance was not a good and rejected.

In August 1937, a practical test of Experimental Model 1 was conducted at an infantry school and a cavalry school, and some requests were made. Based on Experimental Model 1, a new Experimental Model 3 was manufactured by incorporating the opinions of infantry and cavalry schools.
14 prototypes were manufactured and compared with new Bergmann submachine gun with Parabellum ammo. In This exam, they considered it have enough specification but few point was pointed out. Following it, 10 prototypes were modified. In addition they manufactured five Model 3 Modification Ko and five Model 3 Modification Otsu. Finally, Model 3 Mod. Otsu was adopted as Type 100 Machine Pistol in February 1941.

In later, Experimental Model 2 attracted attention as a small weapon for tank soldiers. In late 1940s Kokura arsenal build improved model of Model 2, but Japan was surrendered before it was adopted.