Made In Japan

I'm not going to list or boast about my gun collection (I'm actually a "rookie" compared to some of my friends and aquaintences), except to say that it's a hobby and a way of life that I've always enjoyed.

While many of them are within the last 40 years of design, I have a particular fondness for the older World War II era guns, both OURS as well as THEIRS, Whether it's an American Garand, a British Enfied, a Russian Nagant or a German Luger, if these guns could speak, they'd be a book-writer's dream. Everytime I'm cleaning one after a trip to the "pits" or wiping one down "just because", I always wonder what its "history" is.....where it's been....who it was issued to....was HE killed?, or how many soldiers has THIS gun killed.

Such a rifle is the Type "99" Japanese. I have 2 of them, one is all original, chambered for the 7.7mm Japanese cartridge, and the other was foolishly "modernized" to a 30.06, and I'll explain the "foolishly" statement a little further on in this story.

The Type "99" replaced the older type "38" that the Japanese Army had carried for decades prior to World War II. The Type "38 was called the Arisaka, and while it was a good, reliable rifle, its 6.5mm cartridge fell a bit short on range & knockdown power, The 7.7 would remedy that.

It would be difficult to find a military rifle with more "gadgets" on it than the Type "99." It had a permanently-attached "monopod" that folded out from under the barrel to provide a quick,steady brace if needed.

It had a steel arched dust cover that moved back & forth with the bolt, and the idea was to keep dirt out of the bolt area as they marched & fought in the jungles. But the cover rattled so much that the Japanese, who took great pride in their "stealth", usually took the covers off & threw them away.

The "99" had a REALLY strange flip-up sight, that you could adjust for elevation (as MANY combat rifles did)....but it ALSO had a pair of flip-DOWN "wings" with graduated notches running left to right. These were called "anti-aircraft sights". The idea, was that you were supposed to "lead" a passing airplane, using the notches, and take him on with your 7.7 bolt-action rifle!

Well......a Japanese soldier with a 7.7 ----against a Navy or Marine F4U Corsair loaded with bombs, rockets and FIFTY CALIBER machineguns, really isn't an "even-exchange!"

The 7.7 WAS a better cartridge than the 6.5 it replaced though, and they needed SOMETHING to counter the power & range of our old 30.06 Springfields, Garands and Browning Automatic Rifles (BAR'S).

A pretty simple design, the Type "99" functioned well in the tropical environments, but in America, our factories were turning out more weapons each month than the Japanese could during the entire war......which is why Admiral Yamamoto had WARNED his "bosses" about taking on the industrial might of the United States, in the first place.

In the end, even young Japanese school girls were building weapons in backyards, and quality suffered as desperation increased. It became known as "cottage industry."

The 7.7 cartridge was also used in many of their machineguns, but some of their machineguns were fairly complicated and often failed, while our 30 & 50 caliber Brownings seemed to stand up to anything.

In the end, we outgunned them and overwhelmed them with small arms, aircraft, Naval strength, and finally the Enola Gay.

What happened to their rifles & pistols? Most were gathered up and tossed into Tokyo Bay, but thousands managed to find their way back to the States as "war souveneirs."

And here is the FOOLISH explanation I mentioned earlier:

Over the chamber of each rifle, there was a "chrysanthemum" stamped into the chamber housing. This was the "shield" of the Imperial Family. The Emperor was believed to be DEVINE, and each soldier was carrying a part of this "eternal divinity" into battle with him. This was a huge "psychological advantage" in the minds of the young warriors.

When Emperor Hirohito surrendered, word was passed to ALL Japanese units, for the soldiers to "file away" or "mutilate" in whatever way they could------that embossed chrysanthemum from the chamber, before surrendering their weapons. In that way, the rifles would "have no meaning."

In allowing the Japanese to "save face", General MacArthur ALSO ordered that all G.I.'s who had captured "souveneir rifles" DO THE SAME, as to not further disgrace the Japanese, or the Imperial Family.

Well.......most DID, but there are always a few who are NOT going to go along with "political correctness", so there were many that came BACK here with that "stamped flower" still intact......plus of course, the WOUNDED G.I.'s who were shipped home before the war ended, and brought back a few 99's as well. THOSE guns would still have the chrysanthemum staped into them.

Today you can still find a lot of old Jap 99's out there in the used-gun racks of gunshops, but not often with the "flower"

My first "99" is all original------7.7-------still has the monopod, anti-aircraft sights, and even the DUST cover, which I always wonder about------did the soldier who carried it NOT care about the "rattle" it makes, and maybe one of our Marines HEARD it and shot him?

The "chrysanthemum" on this rifle is neatly "filed off" as ordered.

But my OTHER "99" is one thst I found in a gunshop in Mesa, Arizona several years ago, and it still HAS that emblem------clear and sharp---------

I quickly looked at the sales tag, though, and my excited "discovery" became a "stake through the heart"....it had a sporterized stock on it, and a 30.06 barrel!

"WHAT DORK DID THIS??".....there aren't that many of THESE floating around! (to be "fair" I guess......it stands to reason that most people today do NOT know about the rarity of the "chrysanthemum").......and I'm SURE that the last guy did it because it's a lot easier to find 30.06 ammo, than 7.7 Japanese (although I DO have 230 rounds of ammo for it).

Well.........they didn't want much for it, so I bought it ANYWAY, just to have one with the "mark". I've shot both, and my all-original 7.7 shoots more accurately, than my "converted" 30.06

I have given some thought to taking both rifles in to a gunsmith and have the "chrysanthemum-ed" receiver swapped out with the one on the 7.7, and I was gonna have Sam do the job. I wish now that I HAD, because I'm not really all that keen on having some other gunsmith do it, now that Sam's gone.

Whenever I'm in a gunshop someplace today, and if I happen to SPOT an old "99", I always check to see if it's one that might have "slipped through the cracks." So far I have not.

Bottom line to this story though, is that for an awful lot of years, the term "Made in Japan" always referred to something of cheap or poor quality, and it was a term that was well-deserved. Still IS on some things, and among their war weapons, some of THOSE weren't all that good.

But the Type "99" WAS, and so was the older "38." Whenever I wipe that old 7.7 down, I can just picture that thing on some island.......Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima.........who knows.

Yes....if they could only talk..........

PS.....(trivia).......Emperor Hirohito came to power in 1926, and when he officially spoke over the public radio in August of 1945, to let the Japanese people know it was time to lay down their arms..............for MOST Japanese, it was the FIRST time they had ever heard his voice.