Tanegashima ( Japanese matchlock ) History . Origins . The tanegashima seems to have been based on snap matchlock s that were produced in the armory of Goa in Portuguese India , which was captured by the Portuguese in 1510 . The name " tanegashima " came from the Japanese island ( Tanegashima ) where a Chinese junk with Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm in 1543 . The lord of the Japanese island , Tanegashima Tokitaka ( 1528 – 1579 ) , purchased two matchlock muskets from the Portuguese and put a swordsmith to work copying the matchlock barrel and firing mechanism . The smith ( Yaita ) did not have much of a problem with most of the gun but " drilling the barrel helically so that the screw ( " bisen " bolt ) could be tightly inserted " was a major problem as this " technique did apparently not exist in Japan until this time . " The Portuguese fixed their ship and left the island and only in the next year when a Portuguese blacksmith was brought back to Japan was the problem solved . Within ten years of its introduction , an upwards of 300 , 000 tanegashima firearms were reported to have been manufactured . Sengoku period . Much of Japan was involved with internecine wars during the Sengoku period ( 1467 - 1603 ) , as feudal lords vied for supremacy . Matchlock guns were introduced about midway through the period , and after their introduction on the battlefield , were used extensively toward the end , and had a decisive role in warfare . In 1549 , Oda Nobunaga ordered 500 guns to be made for his armies . The benefits of firearms were still relatively questionable , however , compared to other weapons . At the time , guns were still rather primitive and cumbersome . According to one estimate , in 16th century Japan , an archer could fire 15 arrows in the time a gunner would take to load , charge , and shoot a firearm . Effective range also was only 80 to 100 meters , and at that distance a bullet could easily bounce off armour . Matchlocks were vulnerable to humid or rainy conditions as the powder would become damp . but one advantage was that firearms could be manned effectively by farmers or non - samurai low - ranking soldiers . The Japanese soon worked on various techniques to improve the effectiveness of their guns . They developed a serial firing technique to create a continuous rain of bullets on the enemy . They also developed bigger calibers to increase lethal power . Protective boxes in lacquerware were invented to fit over the firing mechanism so it could still fire while it was raining , as were systems to accurately fire weapons at night by keeping fixed angles thanks to measured strings . Japan became so enthusiastic about the new weapons that it possibly overtook every European country in absolute numbers produced . Japan also used the guns in the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 , in which about a quarter of the invasion force of 160 , 000 were gunners . They were extremely successful at first and managed to capture Seoul just 18 days after their landing at Pusan . Edo period . The internal war for control of Japan was won by Tokugawa Ieyasu who defeated his rivals at the Battle of Sekigahara in October 1600 . Three years later , he established the Tokugawa Shogunate , a powerful entity that would maintain peace , stability , and prosperity in Japan for the following 250 years . This is known as the Edo period ( 1603 - 1868 ) . From the mid 17th century , Japan decided to close itself to interaction with the West as well as its close neighbors of China and Korea through its policy of Sakoku . Contrary to popular belief , this did not lead to Japan " giving up the gun . " If anything , the gun was used less frequently because the Edo Period did not have many large - scale conflicts in which a gun would be of use . Often the sword was simply the more practical weapon in the average small - scale Edo Period conflicts . It should also be noted that isolation did not decrease the production of guns in Japan — on the contrary , there is evidence of around 200 gunsmiths in Japan by the end of the Edo Period . But the social life of firearms had changed : as the historian David L . Howell has argued , for many in Japanese society , the gun had become less a weapon than a farm implement for scaring off animals . With no external enemies for over 200 years , tanegashima were mainly used by samurai for hunting and target practice , the majority were relegated to the arms store houses of the various feudal lords ( daimyo ) . The arrival in Japan of the United States Navy led by Commodore Perry in 1854 started a period of re - armament . The tanegashima was an antiquated weapon by the 1800s and various samurai factions acquired advanced firearms including the minié rifle , breech - loading and repeating rifles . The samurai era ended in 1868 with the Meiji era , the Japanese turned to a national conscription army with modern weapons and uniforms . The last use of samurai armour and traditional weapons including tanegashima in Japan was during the Satsuma rebellion ( 1877 ) , when the Meiji government ' s newly established Imperial Japanese Army put an end to the last samurai and their resistance to modernization . Modern use . Today tanegashima are readily available from sellers of antique firearms and dealers of samurai antiques both in Japan and the West . Modern tanegashima gun troops in Japan re - enact the use of tanegashima in battle and black powder enthusiasts use tanegashima for target practice .