Guns for the Samurai: spreading and use of Western Small Arms in Japan during the Bakumatsu Period (1853–1868)

Abstract

The article analyzes the spread of modern firearms in Japan during the Bakumatsu transition period (1853–1868), as well as their use during the civil war of 1863–1868. In the 1840–60s, the world experienced one of the largest revolutions in military technology, which completely changed the very approach to warfare. Japan, forced against its will to end its 200-year isolation from the outside world in 1853, was also affected by th e global trend toward rearmament. Faced with external pressure, the Japanese government attempted to modernize its armed forces, but the weapons that flooded the country were used not to repel foreign aggression, but during the civil war, which resulted in the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and global changes in Japanese society.

Keywords

• japan
• firearms
• bakumatsu
• boshin civil war
• edo period