Japanese Tanegashima Musket,In 1543 a ship of Portuguese adventurers was driven to anchor off the co

Japanese Tanegashima Musket,In 1543 a ship of Portuguese adventurers was driven to anchor off the coast of Tanegashima Island, Japan.  The lord of the island, Tanegashima Tikitaka offered the stranded captain and his crew the hospitality of his lordship.  Lord Tanegashima purchased two matchlock rifles from the Portuguese, snaplock types made in Goa, a Portuguese port in India.  He then had a master swordsmith attempt to copy the musket, which he was able to do successfully.Within decades muskets became a valuable commodity among Japanese Samurai and soldiers.  Many were traded with Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch sailors, but an indigenous industry of musket-making sprang up all over Japan.  The snaplock type musket remained popular, even though in Europe the design was dropped since the snapping motion of the serpentine would often snuff out the match flame.  The Japanese also made several improvements, such as a lacquered box that fitted over the lock, so that the weapon could be fired while raining, and increased calibers. They also learned the technique of volley firing to improve effectiveness.  While not as accurate or fast firing as the Japanese  bow, the Tanegashima musket was popular among common peasant foot soldiers because it was easy to use and train with.  A Samurai archer could train for a lifetime to become a master with a bow, a simple soldier needed only a few months, maybe a few weeks.Eventually the musket became a common staple in Japanese warfare.  By the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, one quarter of the 160,000 man invasion force were musketeers.  In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the warlords of Japan and became supreme Shogun of the country, unifying Japan into one nation state.  Among the reforms installed by Tokugawa was the isolation of Japan.  As a result the Japanese missed out on the technological innovation that was the flintlock and the percussion lock.  By the mid 19th century the Japanese were still producing matchlock muskets, while the rest of the world was using flintlock, percussion lock, and even repeating firearms.In 1854 Commodore Perry of the Unites States forced the Japanese to open trade to the west at gun point.  With the introduction of new weapons technology, production of the Tanegashima musket was ended as soldiers and Samurai began purchasing firearms from Europe and the United States.  Today Tanegashima muskets are still popular in Japan among historical reenactors and target shooters. -- source link

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