can anyone tell me if the japanese had a standard smg and post a picture of it, because ive never heard of the japs useing smg's or seen footage of them
They had the 'Type 100' Used I think by their Marines, or possibly their paratroopers? Certainly they were not common.
Probably! I am in no way an expert on Japanese stuff (I think Tom! is...) However, many of their tanks are the 'Type 87', or whatever, and the same applies to their planes, so it seems likely.
I believe it referred on one way or another to their calender, the number corresponding to a year. But surely tom! will clarify this for us?
Certainly with the aircraft it did, the Zero fighter entered service at the turn of the Japanese century (Year Zero), which corresponded with 1940 in the Western calendar.
Hi. In the late 30th the japanese Army saw no use for smg and automatic rifles. But there were some tests for automatic rifles by some research facilities. Some swiss copies of the german MP 28 were bought in the early 30th for police units. Some were used for practice trials in China (like other bought or captured models) and were found useful. By this time the airborne troops became interested in smgs because they had to get their weapons from containers after landing. So they needed time to get ready for battle and this meant a loss of the surprise factor. So in 1935 some development based on the MP28 began and a prototype for the 8 mm Nambu pistol ammunition with curved magazines for 30 and 50 shots was built. Some problems with the firing mechanism and a "No" from the IJA High Command prevented a mass production. The european battlefield showed in 1939/40 that a smg was very useful. And the japanese strategic planning for a large southeast asian war included commando missions by paratroops. The mechanism and design of the 1935 smg was upgraded and the weapon was introduced as type 100 smg. In 1941 some army special forces including few airborne units became the first mass produced type 100. The version for the paratroops had a folding butt stock. In 1944 facing an enemy widely equipped with automatic weapons the decision was made to increase the (very low) production rate. the manufacturing process and the weapon was simplified and the rate of fire was increased from 450 rpm to 800 rpm. The lack of raw material prevented a large scale mass production and so only some 100.000 were built. In 1937 the IJN bought 60.000 italian MP 38 directly from Fabbrica Armi Esercito. In fall 1938 they arrived in Japan and another contract for 60.000 smg was signed. Due to the italian war efforts, only 50.000 of those were produced and delivered. They were used by the japanese SNLF and SNLF-paratroops. In 1943 350 improved MP38-43 with 2000 magazines and 50.000 shots were ordered by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. only 50 were shipped due to the italian armistice 1943. There were plans to modify these guns for the Nambu 8 mm ammunition and to start a mass production of a simplified version for the IJN. Like many other projects the lack of raw materials prevented these attempts. Japanese weapons names: This is a very complex point. For all who can read and understand written german I suggest reading my article on this subject on my website: http://www.ww2technik.de/jhistoryzeit.htm Here´s a short version (I hope my english is good enough for this.... ): There are two calenders in Japan. The first one is called Jimmu and started with the first emperor 660 BC. The second calender depends on the year of reign of the actual emperor (Tenno). Mutsuhito became Tenno in 1868 . This was the Jimmu-year 2528 and Year 0 of his time as Tenno which was called "Meiji". 1900 was the year 2560 or Meiji 32 (32nd year of Tenno Mutsuhito). Until 1945 the nomenclature of japanese weapons depended on this system. Until 1927 the Tenno-year was used for the nomenclature. The rifle Arisaka Type 38 was developed by Arisaka and introduced in the year 38 of the Meiji-Tenno (1906). In 1912 Mutsuhito died and his son Yashihito became the Taisho-Tenno. So 1912 was Meiji 44 and Taisho 0 after Yashihito became emperor. Using the standard naming system the famous Pistol Nambu Taisho 14 was introduced in 1926. In 1925 Hirohito became coemperor (Showa-Tenno) because his father became ill. Yashihito died in 1927. This was the year Taisho 15 and Showa 2. The naming system was reformed by this time and from 1927 the Jimmu-Year was basis for the nomenclature (1927 = 2587). From this time the Showa-nomenclature was only used for prototypes and projects (reduced to "Shi"). New weapons were named with the last two digits of the Jimmu-Year. So the famous "Knee-mortar" was called type 89 (=2589 = 1929) grenade launcher. Weapons introduced 1940 were first named "type 100", later Type 0 (like the A6M fighter). In the following years only the last digit was used (type 3 medium tank). After 1945 the japanese nomenclature bases on the western calendar. The full nomenclature of aircrafts and vehicles is also a very complex problem and I think I should stop here (its a lot more confusing!!!!!). Yours tom!
The Japanese actually ouchased a small number of Schmeisser MP 181 in 7,63 mm caliber made in Switzerland by SIG-(theese were the BErman mod 1920) These were apparently issued to the Special Landing Forces and first encountered during the invassion of the Phillipines. Work on an indigenous design known as a "Type I" began in 1938-After succesive improvements it became the Type III,and after additional modifications was designated Type Type IIIB and accepted as the Type 100-It had a rather unfortunate 8 mm cartridge . Variations including a Tppe 100 with bayonet and compensator, a folding stock model issued to paratroopers and one which was first issued in 1944 with fixed stock, compensator and fixed aperture rear sights. Ths Type 100 looked nasty and it was..so work began on a prptotype knownm as the Type II, which still under devlopment when the war ended. Whiule comparing the firepower of Australian and Japanese infantry division a book which l mentioned in the "Library Section". ("s "Armed and Ready", q.v.) give the total available to one of the former as 378, and describes the number used by the latter as "insignificant" while adding : There was little obvious qualitative differece between the Australian and Japanese except in the Thompson (and later the OWen ) SMG which was clearly more reliable and accurate than its Japanese rivals. The Japanese had not designed a reliable SMG by 1942 and those which were actually produced were issued to the paratroops rather than to infantry formations". Note the Bergman 1920 7,63 mm at the bottom of tis trio of Japanese SMGs. The crude weapon facing left is the prototype Type II...
In 1942, the first submachinegun for the Japanese appeared, the Type100. The Type100 was a blowback weapon with magazine feed on the lefthand side. (similar to the sten). The box magazine contained 30 8mm Nambu cartridges. The Type100 could accept the bayonet. Other versions were with folding butts for use by paras. In 1944 an improved Type100 appeared. The differences were an increased rate of fire (800rpm for improved Type100, 400rpm for earlier Type100) and more simplified lines for ease of production. Not many early Type100's were built and only a few of the latter.
Woops, i took my time writing my post and by the time i finished look what i foun, Tom and Simonr alreeady gave some lenghty info.
Trust me, your 2 paragraphs were very helpful for those of us who didn't have time to read a book. Was the type 100 capable of full auto only??
LOL! :lol: Fantastic info Tom! & Scaramouche, and some lovely pictures. Don't worry, your English was up to it - and so was Tom's!!!
As far as l could tell yes..did you see that History Channel special on "Weapons of the Imperial Japanese army" -a collector(or perhaps one of the narrators) actually fired various types , including the Arisaka, one of the Hotchkiss-type mg, the Nambu and the Type 100...
According to my info the type 100 was indeed capable of firing full auto. It is surprising the Japanese did not fully develop the smg considering theirn usefulness in jungles.
Well, Japanese infantry tactics used LMGs extensively; I guess they were supposed to take on the role of all automatic weapons.
I find this oddthat not only did disregard the sub-machine gun but the semi-automatic rifle as well.,although the M1 Garand did impress them and they actually manufactured the prototypes of close copies of in 7,7 mm caliber and at least ne copy of the Johnson semi-automatic..rifle. Reportedly they captured stocks of Thompson smgs from the British and Dutch in some numbers (as well as a quantity of Johnson semi-automatic riles from the Dutch forces in the Netherlands East Indies, but cannot recollect any reports of these weapons used by the Japanese..
The Japanese as we know had a blinding fanatic sense of nationalism, they probably didn't want to use any captured American or British weapons, regardless of their effectiveness. German weapons and technology, on the other hand, are a different story.
