According to popular mythology, firearms were first introduced to Japan in 1543 by a couple of Portuguese men shipwrecked on the island of Tanegashima. Other theories place firearms in Japan even earlier, via illegal trading routes with mainland Asia. Either way, firearms were first widely adopted in warfare in the mid-to-late 16th century, and played a significant role during that period of conflict in which the entire nation was consumed in a civil war, as feudal lords competed for the position of Shogun (a political and military leadership position sanctioned by the emperor).
The firearms used in this period were predominantly matchlock arquebuses. Since Japan at the time was under a self-imposed trade embargo and few foreign goods entered the country, craftsmen reverse engineered the few arquebuses that were brought into the country, and within a few years, a local industry appeared from the ground up to supply war lords with locally made copies. With centuries of sword making under their belts, craftsmen at the time were likely very skilled metal workers, making high quality steel available for forging barrels.
What’s interesting about the history of firearms in Japan, compared to the rest of the world (namely Europe), is that there was virtually no further development on this technology for three centuries after they were first introduced. When Matthew Perry showed up in the Gulf of Tokyo in 1853 demanding that the Japanese open its ports, the few small arms the Japanese possessed at the time were the same matchlock arquebuses used in the 16th century. Europe and the US, in the mean time, had seen the rise and fall of flintlock muskets, and was on the cusp of transitioning from percussion caps to metallic cartridges (the 22LR was invented in 1855 or so).
Why did Japan get left behind? There are three primary reasons that I’m aware of, and they have to do with the Tokugawa Shogunate, which took power in 1603, unifying the country and ending decades of civil war. Firstly, the Tokugawa shogunate, fearing rebellion, imposed heavy restrictions on the manufacturing of firearms and gun powder. Secondly, trade with foreign countries continued to be banned, so new technologies out of Europe rarely entered Japan. And lastly, under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan saw a period of peace lasting over 250 years, and feudal lords saw little reason to invest resources in weapons development.
There also may have been a couple of other factors that are cultural. The Japanese were (and still are) a conservative people, and there was relatively little scientific or technological advancement during those 250+ years in general. It is also possible that the ruling-class samurai saw firearms as a necessary evil at a time of war, but otherwise a threat to their status, as it allowed low ranking and relatively untrained foot soldiers (who might even be “lowly” peasants during times of peace) to mow down high ranking samurai mounted on horseback from afar.
This all changed when Perry showed up. His visit acted as a catalyst for internal shifts in political thought that placed greater emphasis on the Emperor, ultimately leading to a civil war between those loyal to the Emperor (who decided to take political power away from the Shogunate), and those who were loyal to the Shogunate. Overturning the long standing embargo, both sides rapidly imported the latest in weaponry from Europe, and while often outnumbered, the Imperial forces lead a successful coup, ousting the Shogunate in 1858, thereby ending a reign lasting 264 years, practically over night. Also abolished, was the caste system, ending the era of sword-wearing samurai; replacing the sword as the primary weapon, was of course the modern firearm.
Image Top: mounted samurai with a shortened arquebus, or essentially a carbine of the day. Check out other photos here.