page_title: Firearms of Japan
section_title: Late Edo Period
hierarchical_section_title: Firearms of Japan / History / Edo Period / Late Edo Period
caption_attribution_description: English: Japanese percussion pistol, 19th century, possibly converted from a matchlock.
context_page_description: Firearms of Japan
  were introduced in the 13th century by the Chinese, but saw little use. Portuguese firearms were introduced in 1543, and intense development followed, with strong local manufacture during the period of conflicts of the late 16th century. Hōjutsu, the art of gunnery, is the Japanese martial art dedicated to firearms usage.
context_section_description: A few Japanese started to study and experiment with recent Western firearms from the beginning of the 19th century especially as a means to repel the visits of foreign ships, such as the incursion by British frigate HMS Phaeton in 1808. Through the process of rangaku (the studying of Western science through the Dutch), airguns were developed by Kunitomo Ikkansai c. 1820–1830. From 1828, experiments were made with flintlock mechanisms.
  The Nagasaki samurai Takashima Shūhan (高島秋帆) started to import flintlock guns from the Netherlands known as "Gewehr" from the 1840s. He made the first modern Western military demonstration for the Tokugawa shogunate, in Tokumarugahara (north of Edo) on 27 June 1841.
  With the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854 and the inescapable opening of the country to trade, rapid efforts were made at reequipping Japan with modern fireams. Old matchlock weapons were recovered and converted to flintlock mechanisms.
caption: Japanese percussion pistol, 19th century, possibly converted from a matchlock.
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