page_title: Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: Full view of a early Type 99 short rifle.
context_page_description: The Pacific War lasted from 1941-1945, with the Empire of Japan fighting against the United States and the British Empire. Most of the campaign was fought largely on a variety of small islands in the Pacific region. Compared to the European Theater, Pacific combat was brutal, marked by illness, disease, and ferocity. The Imperial Japanese Army typically fought alone in these engagements, often with very little naval or aerial support, and the IJA would quickly garner a reputation for their unrelenting spirit.
  At the beginning of the Pacific War in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army contained 51 divisions, 27 of which were stationed in China. A further 13 divisions defended the Manchurian-Soviet border, due to concerns about a possible attack by the Soviet Union. From 1942, troops were sent to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Burma, Dutch East Indies, and Malaya. By 1945, there were 5.95 million men in the Imperial Japanese Army.
context_section_description: The service rifle in the Imperial Japanese Army was the Type 38 rifle, a 5-round bolt-action rifle firing 6.5×50mmSR Arisaka, however, with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, it was found to be lacking in power, and was replaced by the Type 99 rifle, which used the 7.7×58mm Arisaka, a round more comparable to those used by other countries, such as the .30-06 or .303 British, but both rifles were used until the end of the war.
   
  The most common machine guns used were the Type 96 light machine gun and Type 99 machine gun, firing the 6.5mm and 7.7mm respectively. They fired from 30-round magazines, loaded from the top, and though these weapons externally resemble the British Bren gun, and are sometimes believed to be copies, they are functionally and internally separate. Also used was the Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun, nicknamed 'The Woodpecker' for its sound, which fired from a 30-round 7.7mm feed tray. The lack of standardization harmed Japanese production efficiency, and can be considered a major contributing factor in the general absence of ammunition.
  The only submachine gun in service in the Japanese Empire was the Type 100 submachine gun. It fired the sub-par 8x22mm Nambu round, and was modelled after the German MP-18. Only a few thousand were built, compared to the 1.75 million Thompsons, the SMG in use in the United States.
  
  Compared to their American and British counterparts, Japanese small arms were largely inferior, though they had one weapon that their enemies did not, the Type 89 grenade discharger, better known as the knee mortar (a misnomer, as it's not fired from the knee), a man-portable mortar, that could also be used in direct fire. 
  Japanese armor was also lacking. During the interwar period, Japan bought various Vickers 6-Tons, and largely modelled their own tank designs after them, but the effectiveness of such tanks was very limited. Though Japan was the first country to implement diesel engines, now commonplace, and the presences of domestic tanks at all put them above most of the world's armies (including China's), these tanks were considerably lacking in armor and firepower compared to their American counterparts - neither the light Type 95 Ha-Go nor the medium Type 97 Chi-Ha could penetrate an M4 Sherman. The rather light armor of Japanese tanks also made them vulnerable against other means of attack, such as the M1 Bazooka.
caption: The Type 99 Rifle, one of Imperial Japan's two service rifles during the war.
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