Japan

Newsletter

Get the latest from Weapons and Warfare right to your inbox.

Follow Us

Most Recent

Armies Japan Organisation 27 Min Read

The Army of Meiji 3 of 3 Parts

“Aoyama; Kanpeishiki no Zu”. Emperor Meiji holds a military review at army camp in Aoyama. The Reorganized Superintendency In May 1885 the army ministry revised the garrison regulations. The commander of each garrison became a division commander while the superintendent controlled two divisions and became a corps commander.48 This was…

Aircraft Japan 29 Min Read

Nakajima Kitsuka I

Nakajima Kitsuka (Kikka) by Piotr Forkasiewicz Even though the genesis of the turbojet began long before World War 2, it would take the war to accelerate the development of this new powerplant to the point that by the close of hostilities jet aircraft had been blooded in battle. Germany can,…

Aircraft Japan 28 Min Read

Nakajima Kitsuka II

Art by MUNEO HOSAKA Set up in warehouses belonging to a tobacco factory, the Ne 20 group comprised 10 officers and 200 men. Here, two bench testing stations were created and Ne 20 development and testing continued. The process revealed numerous flaws. At one stage the pressure of the axial-flow…

Armies Japan 29 Min Read

The Army of Meiji 2 of 3 Parts

Reception by the Meiji Emperor of the second French Military Mission to Japan, 1872 The Conversion to Divisions In January 1880 Yamagata had warned the emperor of the dangers posed by Russia’s remorseless advance into East Asia and China’s military modernization. Japan’s lengthy coastlines left it especially vulnerable to attack…

Armies Japan 19 Min Read

The Army of Meiji 1 of 3 Parts

Uniforms during the Boshin War and Meiji era On May 14, 1878, the most powerful man in Japan, Minister of Home Affairs Ōkubo, was riding alone in his unescorted carriage from his Tokyo residence to a morning appointment. Six sword-wielding former samurai surrounded his carriage in a narrow lane and…

Biography Japan Navigation 61 Min Read

Hasekura Tsunenaga: 1571–1622?

A replica of the Japanese-built galleon San Juan Bautista, in Ishinomaki, Japan. December 1613. A samurai retainer from northern Japan stands on the deck of his ship as it clips along, sails billowing in the wind. For centuries, craft of all kinds have ferried passengers, troops and trade goods around…

Most Popular

Yamato (1941) Part I

IJN Yamato by Chris Flodberg  The tower carried Type 21 and 22 radar, the main…

Early War Japanese Air Supremacy – the “Zero”

After the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea, the lightning fast expansion was slowed.…

Japanese Siege Weapons

Early Fortifications Although fortifications were constructed in Japan prior to the feudal period, frequent conflicts…

Samurai: The warrior class of feudal Japan

The Samurai, the warrior class of ancient Japan, dominated that country’s political and social structure…