Arisaka Type 99 Year of Mfg. I own a Type 99 that my father-in-law brought home from WWII. From what I have been able to determine, it is a series 20 made in the Kokura arsenal. Kokura manufactured series 20's from 1939 - 1945 and produced 100,000 series 20's. The serial number of my rifle is 55897. I have a Arisaka gun in my. Arisaka Type 99 Year of Mfg. I own a Type 99 that my father-in-law brought home from WWII. From what I have been able to determine, it is a series 20 made in the Kokura arsenal. Kokura manufactured series 20's from 1939 - 1945 and produced 100,000 series 20's. The serial number of my rifle is 55897. I have a Arisaka gun in my. Spelling of Col. Arisaka's name updated, based on information supplied by his great-granddaughter. Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles and Bayonets of World War II The Japanese manufactured over 6.4 million rifles and carbines in the 40 years from 1906 to 1945.

Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles andBayonets of World War II

Last Updated 09/07/2000

Adapted from Japanese Rifles of World War II, by Duncan O. McCollum, 1996, published by Excalibur Publications, PO Box 36, Latham, NY12110-0036, USA, ISBN: 1-880677-11-3; and Military Rifles ofJapan, by Fred. L. Honeycutt, Jr., and F. Patt Anthony, FifthEdition, 1996, published by Julin Books, 5282 Ridan Way, Palm BeachGardens, FL 33418, ISBN: 0-9623208-7-0. Bayonet information fromBayonets from Janzen's Notebook, by Jerry L. Janzen,published by Cedar Ridge Publications, 73 Cedar Ridge Road, Broken Arrow,Oklahoma 74011-1142, USA. ISBN: 0-9619789-1-0.

Table of bayonet variations added 09/07/2000.

Production figures added 08/05/2000.

Spelling of Col. Arisaka's name updated 06/25/2000, based on informationsupplied by his great-granddaughter.

Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles and Bayonets of World War II

The Japanese manufactured over 6.4 million rifles and carbines in the 40years from 1906 to 1945. Most of these rifles were still in use duringthe Sino-Japanese War of the 1930s and the Pacific War of the 1940s. During the war and subsequent American occupation of Japan, thousands ofthese rifles found their way to the United States as war souvenirs, makingthem one of the most common foreign military firearms available in thecountry.

The Arisaka rifles are named for Colonel NariakiNariakira Arisaka, who headed a commission during the 1890s which wascharged with developing a new rifle to replace the earlier models such asthe Murata. The Arisaka rifles were designated with the year of thecurrent emperor's reign. Thus, the Type 38 rifle was designed inthe 38th year of the reign of Emperor Meiji (1905), and the Type44 carbine was adopted in the 44th year of his reign (1911). During the reign of Hirohito, rifles were designated by the last one ortwo digits of the adoption year according to the standard Japanesecalendar. Thus, the Type 99 rifle was adopted in Japanese calendaryear 2599 (1939), and the Type 2 paratroop rifle was adoptedin calendar year 2602 (1942).

A chrysanthemum with 16 petals (the symbol of the Japanese Emperor) wasusually stamped on the receiver of rifles manufactured for the ImperialJapanese Army, indicating that the rifle belonged to the Emperor. Thechrysanthemum resembles this:

The chrysanthemum was at least partially ground off on rifles which weresurrendered after the war, apparently as a face-saving gesture. Riflescaptured in the field, however, normally have the chrysanthemum symbolintact. The Type designation was stamped into the top of the receiverusing the character shiki for 'type' and Japanese numerals. Theshiki character and the characters for the Japanese numerals areshown in the following table.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Japanese Characters Used on Arisaka Rifles

Character	Meaning
Type

A small number of Type 38 and Type 99 rifles had two concentric circles onthe receiver in place of the chrysanthemum. The purpose of thesespecially-marked rifles is not known, although it is speculated that theywere issued to paramilitary forces such as the Kempei Tai (Japanese SecretPolice), other military police, and guards at prisons, embassies, andother civil instillations. Some concentric circle rifles were remarkedstandard issue Type 38 and Type 99 rifles that had the chrysanthemumcompletely or partially removed and replaced with the concentric circlemarking. These rifles were serialized separately from regular productionpieces. Other rifles apparently were originally manufactured and markedwith concentric circles, which looks something like this:

Arsenal Marks

Each Japanese rifle was marked with the symbol of either the arsenal ofmanufacture or the arsenal that supervised the manufacturingsubcontractor. This mark can be found on the left side of the receiver atthe end of the rifle serial number. Rifles manufactured by a commercialsubcontractor bear the subcontractor's mark to the right of thesupervising arsenal's mark. These marks are shown in the following table.

Kokura Arsenal Nagoya Arsenal Jinsen Arsenal (Korea) Mukden Arsenal (Manchuria)

Japanese Rifle Manufacturers

Symbol	Arsenal/Subcontractor	Period of Operation
Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo)	1870-1935
1935-1945
1923-1945
1923-1945
1931-1945
Toyo Kogyo	1939-1945
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	1940-1945
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	1940-1945
Howa Jyuko	1940-1945
Izawa Jyuko	1940-1945

At various times, rifles were removed from military service and sold toother countries or transferred to Japanese schools as training weapons.Normally, the chrysanthemum on these rifles was overstamped with theKoishikawa (Tokyo) / Kokura Arsenal symbol or a ring of small circles toindicate that the rifle no longer belonged to the Imperial Japanese Army.Rifles given to schools often have an additional character stamped on thetop of the receiver between the chrysanthemum and the type designationcharacters. Most of these 'school-marked' rifles also have two or threezeros preceeding the serial number. The 'school' mark looks somethinglike this:

Serial Numbers

All Japanese military rifles had serial numbers except extremely rareprototypes, other pre-production guns, and occasional rifles assembledvery late in World War II. The serial number was stamped on the left sideof the receiver, followed by the arsenal symbol. Initially, rifles makein Japanese arsenals were numbered consecutively within each Typedesignation. In 1933 this scheme was replaced by a system in which rifleswere numbered in blocks, or series, of 99,999 each [actually 100,000,according to Honeycutt, running from serial numbers 0 through 99,999].Each series was identified by a small Japanese character (kana) placed within a circle to the left of the serial number. Specific blocksof kana were assigned to each arsenal or manufacturer to use for aspecific rifle type. The series markings are illustrated in the followingtable.

Series Mark

Series Markings

Series Number	Series Mark	Series Number
1	24
2	25
3	26
4	27
5	28
6	29
7	30
8	31
9	32
10	33
11	34
12	35
20	37
21	40
22	45
23

Production Figures

The following table, based on information from McCollum's and Honeycutt'sbooks, provides some information about rifle production at the variousarsenals, organized by type of rifle. These figures are only estimates,and are based on recorded serial number information. Blank entriesindicate that the information in the entry immediately above applies tothe blank entry as well.

Production information for sniper rifles, paratroop rifles (Types 100 and2), Test Type 1 rifles, and Type I rifles (produced by Italy for theJapanese Navy and not based totally on the Arisaka action) are notincluded.

Japanese Rifle Production Figures

Type	Arsenal/Subcontractor	Series	Serial number range	Dates
38	Koishikawa (Tokyo)	none	0-2,029,000 (see Note 1)	1906-ca.1935
Kokura	20	29,000-49,000	1933-1940
22	0-99,999
23	0-99,999
24	0-99,999
25	0-99,999
26	0-71,000
Nagoya	none	2,021,000-2,031,000	1923-ca.1933
26	0-99,999	ca.1933-ca.1940
27	0-99,999
28	0-99,999 (see Note 2)
29	0-8,000
Jinsen (Korea)	none	0-1,400 (see Note 3)	ca.1939-ca.1940
30	1,000-13,000
Mukden (Manchuria)	none	0-30,000	ca.1934-ca.1940
none	5,000,000-5,065,000
none	65,000-79,000 (see Note 4)
38 Concentric Circle	Nagoya	none	0-2,600 (see Note 5)	??
Kokura	none	0-1,500 (see Note 5)	??
38 Carbine	Koishikawa (Tokyo)	none	0-212,000 (see Note 6)	1906-ca.1935
Kokura	2	12,000-92,000	ca.1933-ca.1940
Nagoya	none	0-2,000	1923-ca.1933
4	0-99,999	ca.1933-ca.1940
5	0-99,999
6	0-4,000
Mukden (Manchuria)	none	0-7,000	ca.1934-ca.1940
none	600,000-628,000
6	29,000-44,000
44	Koishikawa (Tokyo)	none	0-56,000 (see Note 7)	1911-ca.1933
Kokura	none	56,000-70,000 (see Note 8)	ca.1933-ca.1940
1	0-9,000
Nagoya	none	0-2,000	ca.1930-ca.1933
2	0-12,000	ca.1933-ca.1940
99	Nagoya	none	0-99,999	1939-1945
1	0-99,999
2	2,500-99,999
3	0-99,999
4	10,000-99,999
5	0-99,999
6	0-99,999
7	0-99,999
8	0-99,999
10	0-99,999
11	0-99,999
12	0-1,000
Kokura	20	0-99,999	1939-1945
21	0-99,999
22	0-99,999
23	0-99,999
24	0-99,999
25	0-92,000
Toyo Kogyo	30	0-99,999	1939-1945
31	0-99,999
32	0-99,999
33	0-99,999
34	0-99,999
35	0-57,000
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	27	0-41,000	1940-1945
37	0-59,000
Izawa Jyuko	4	0-10,000	1940-1945
9	0-50,000
Howa Jyuko	9	50,000-99,999	1940-1945
Jinsen Arsenal	40	0-91,000	1939-1945
Mukden Arsenal	45	0-3,000	1939-1945
99 Concentric Circle	Nagoya	none	0-600	??
Nagoya	none	none (assembly numbers 0-700)	??
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	2	0-600	??
Kokura	none	0-1,400	??
Kokura	none	1,800-3,400	??

Notes:

1. Koishikawa switched from 'B' to 'S' barrel proof mark in the late800,000 serial number range.
2. Rifles in this series have been observed with (i) mum removed andeither an elongated M or the school mark substituted, or (ii) mumoverstamped by the Nagoya symbol, an elongated M, or other characters. The elongated M indicates 'military reserves'.
3. Some rifles have been reported stamped with the character signifying'for education' (not to be confused with the school mark).
4. Serial numbers in this range are preceded by two hiraganacharacters for 'i' and 'ro', the first two characters in the Japanesesyllabary. These characters resemble 'w' and '3', and these serialnumbers have been misidentified as being in the 300,000 range.
5. These rifles will normally be found stamped with a symbol similar tothe series mark for '4' stamped underneath the receiver or on the barrel,indicating a second class arm.
6. Carbines with a shallow '00' or '000' stamped in front of the serialnumber have been removed from service use.
7. Koishikawa switched from the 'B' to the 'S' barrel proof mark in thelate 20,000 serial number range.
8. 'T' proof mark stamped on barrel at receiver.

Bayonets

The primary kind of bayonet used on Japanese rifles in World War II wasthe Type 30, introduced in 1897. They averaged about 20 inches inoverall length and were produced in 18 distinct manufacturing patterns,but most are similar to the following 3 types (pictures copied fromBayonets from Janzen's Notebook):

• Hooked quillon:
• Straight quillon:
• Straight quillon with squared pommel:

The bayonets were normally serial numbered, but the serial numbers wereassigned independently from those assigned to the rifles.

Symbols indicating the arsenals at which the bayonets were manufactured,or the arsenal that supervised the subcontractor, are stamped on the rightricasso. These markings are identified in the following table:

Tokyo Arsenal prior to 1936Kokura Arsenal 1936-45 Nagoya Arsenal Jinsen Arsenal (Korea) Mukden Arsenal (Manchuria) National Denki (National Electric) Unknown Unknown company under Kokura supervision National Denki under Kokura supervision Howa Jyuko under Nagoya supervision Unknown company under Nagoya supervision Toyoda Jidoshoki Seisakusho (Toyoda Automatic Loom Works)under Nagoya supervision Unknown company under Nagoya supervision

Japanese Bayonet Arsenal Marks

Symbol	Arsenal/Subcontractor

The variations are too numerous to illustrate here, but the followingtable (lifted from Honeycutt) lists the more commonly found variations.The abbreviations are listed below the table. My references do not listany production information for the many variations.

Grip Fasteners Bright BHC

Typical Type 30 Bayonet Variations

Arsenal Mark	Blade Finish	Fullers	Crossguard Shape	Grip Shape	Pommel Shape
Yes	Hook	C	Screw
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	CWA	Rivet	R
Blue	No	SC	S	Rivet	R
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Bright	Yes	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	S	Rivet	BHF
Bright	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Bright	Yes	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	Yes	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Blue	No	SC	S	Rivet	BHF
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	SC	CWA	Rivet	R
Blue	No	SC	CWA	Rivet	R
Blue	No	SR	CWA	Rivet	R
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Bright	Yes	Hook	CWA	Rivet	BHF
Bright	Yes	SC	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	Yes	Hook	C	Screw	BHC
Blue	No	SC	C	Rivet	BHC

The following abbreviations are used in the above table:

Crossguard:
SC - Straight contoured
SR - Straight rectangular
Grips:
C - Contoured, screw retained
CWA - Contoured, wrap around, rivet retained
SWA - Straight, wrap around, rivet retained
S - Straight, rivet retained
Pommel:
BHC - Birdshead, contoured
BHF - Birdshead, flat sides
R - Rectangular

As usual, I'm not responsible for any factual errors, but please reportany transcription errors to me.

CRUFFLER.COM
presents

FirearmsTechnical Trivia, September 2000:

Arisaka Rifle Collector'sGuide

by NoelTominack

In the late19th Century, Imperial Japan joined other industrial nations in equippingits military forces a repeating bolt-action rifle that fired smokelesspowder cartridges. This rifle became known as the Arisaka rifle,after the man in charge of selecting them, Lieutenant Colonel NariakiraArisaka. From its adoption in the 30th year of the Meiji emperor(that's 1895 to those of you who don't speak Imperial Japanese dates) tothe end of the World War Two (1945), the Arisaka served as Imperial Japan'smain longarm in one form or another for fifty years.

Although manywere brought back by American GI's during and immediately
after WorldWar Two as souvenirs, they have never achieved the same degree of collectabilityas the German K98 Mauser rifles. This is due in part to the relativescarcity of ammunition chambered for these rifles, and the unearned reputationfor poor quality resulting from the very dangerous practice of firing standardammunition through training rifles. Times have changed, however,and there is a growing interest in Arisaka rifles by historians, crufflers,and people who wonder just what kind of rifle they found in their grandfather'sattic.

This is a primerfor those wishing to know more about the Arisaka rifles and should be enoughto help someone identify rifles of interest. For more detail, thecollector may want to invest in a good reference book such as Fred Honeycutt's'Military Rifles of Japan.'

GENERAL APPEARANCE: There are a few features common to all variants of the Arisaka rifles. These include a two-piece buttstock, plum or egg-shaped bolt handle, anda 16-petal chrysanthemum, or 'mum,' on the receiver ring.

Arisaka Receiver Ring Chrysanthemum

Insome cases, the mum may have been marred or ground off by Japanese soldiersin anticipation of the arm's capture by enemy forces or by General MacArthur'sedict. (Both of these defacements serve the same purpose, to preservethe honor of

the Emperor ofJapan, as the chrysanthemum is the Imperial symbol). The serial number,manufacturer's symbol, and sometimes the series symbol are all locatedon the left side of the receiver.

The followingcharts provide a rough guide toward interpreting these symbols:

1. Theshiki (type)characterand the characters for the Japanese numerals:

Japanese Characters Used on Arisaka Rifles

Character	Meaning
Type
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

2. Each Japanese rifle was markedwith the symbol of either the arsenal of manufacture or the arsenal thatsupervised the manufacturing subcontractor. This mark can be found on theleft side of the receiver at the end of the rifle serial number. Riflesmanufactured by a commercial subcontractor bear the subcontractor's markto the right of the supervising arsenal's mark.

Japanese Rifle Manufacturers

Symbol	Arsenal/Subcontractor	Period of Operation
Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo)	1870-1935
Kokura Arsenal	1935-1945
Nagoya Arsenal	1923-1945
Jinsen Arsenal (Korea)	1923-1945
Mukden Arsenal (Manchuria)	1931-1945
Toyo Kogyo	1939-1945
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	1940-1945
Tokyo Juki Kogyo	1940-1945
Howa Jyuko	1940-1945
Izawa Jyuko	1940-1945

3. All Japanese military rifles hadserial numbers except extremely rare
prototypes, other pre-productionguns, and occasional rifles assembled
very late in World War II. The serialnumber was stamped on the left
side of the receiver, followed bythe arsenal symbol. Initially, rifles make
in Japanese arsenals were numberedconsecutively within each Type
designation. In 1933 this schemewas replaced by a system in which
rifles were numbered in blocks,or series, of 99,999 each [actually
100,000, according to Honeycutt,running from serial numbers 0
through 99,999]. Each series wasidentified by a small Japanese
character (kana) placed withina circle to the left of the serial number.
Specific blocks of kana wereassigned to each arsenal or manufacturer
to use for a specific rifle type.

Series Markings

Series Number	Series Mark	Series Number	Series Mark
1	24
2	25
3	26
4	27
5	28
6	29
7	30
8	31
9	32
10	33
11	34
12	35
20	37
21	40
22	45
23

(Special thanksto Bryan Brown for permitting CRUFFLER.COM to use the above charts anddata. Please visit Bryan's site at http://www.radix.net/~bbrown.)ARISAKAVARIANTS
Type 30 Rifleand Carbine: These are easily identifiedby the hook shaped safety on the back of the bolt. This and all modelsuntil the Type 99 have a bore diameter of 6.5mm.

Arisaka Type 30 Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page31

Type 35 Rifle: These are rather scarce and can be identified by its small round safety. Late in WWII, Japan created 'substitute standard' rifles
using Type35 barreled actions and 'last ditch' parts made from inferior
materials. These are referred to by collectors as the Model 02/45 rifle.

Arisaka Type 35 Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page37

Type 38 Rifleand Carbine: These can be distinguishedby both its very long and short lengths, elaborately machined safety knobs,and two gas vent holes over the chamber. Carbines have very shortrear sights as opposed to the long ladder sights of the rifle. TheJapanese rebarreled some rifles to an intermediate length, and designatedthem as 'Cavalry rifles'.

Arisaka Type 38 Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page49

Type 44 CavalryCarbine: These have a permanently mountedbayonet, side mounted sling swivels, and a trap built into the buttstock.

Arisaka Type 44 Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page31

Type 'I' Rifle: This Italian built rifle looks similar to the Type 38 rifle, except thatit uses a Carcano action, has no vent holes, and lacks any markingsexcept a serial number.

Arisaka Type I Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page147

Type 99 Rifle: This is the WWII version of the Arisaka rifle and it differs from the earlierversions with a 7.7mm caliber bore, a single vent hole over the chamber,a front barrel band held on by screws or rivets, its intermediate length,and its rear aperture sight. As the war progressed and productionbecame increasingly difficult, the rifles grew more crude in appearanceas inferior materials were used and fit/finish standards were lowered significantly. These are often called 'last ditch' models.

Arisaka Type 99 Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page110

The followingare relatively rare, but worthy of mention:

Paratroop Rifles: The Type 1, Type 2, and Type 100 paratroop rifles are all two-part takedownrifles that are similar to Type 99s in appearance.

Arisaka Type 100 Paratroop Rifle Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page31

Sniper Rifles: The Type 97 and Type 99 are basically standard Type 38 and 99 rifles thathave been fitted with scope mounts and bent handles.

Arisaka Type 38 Serial Numbers By Year

Arisaka Type 97 Sniper Rifle Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page81

Training Rifles: These are Japanese rifles of all types that have been converted to smoothboretraining rifles that can only be fired with blank ammunition. Othertraining rifles are no more than elaborate cap guns.

Arisaka Training Rifles Image Credit: Honeycutt, Fred L. and F. Patt Anthoyn, MilitaryRifles of Japan, Julin Books, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 1996, Page173

Note: Data for this month's trivia page was gathered from:

MilitaryRifles of Japan, by Fred Honeycutt, Jr., Julin Books, 1996

MilitaryRifles of Japan is available from IDSA Books. Click on the imageto order.

WhatIn Blue Blazes Is A Cruffler??	WhatDo You Do At Cruffler.Com?
Products& Services	ShopsSpecializing In C&R Firearms
LinksOf Note	Faq
ContactCruffler.Com	Becominga Cruffler
SecureCommunications with PGP	Results>From Cruffler Matches One And Three And A Consolidated Match Database!
The Bestin South American Military Surplus from JLD Enterprises, Featuring M1911A1Style .45's!	Payingby Credit Card with PayPal.com!

Arisaka Serial Numbers By Year List

HOME