Tanegashima rifle種子島銃 火縄銃alternative words: Tanegashima gun, Tanegashimaju, Tanegashima ju, Tanegashima teppo, Tanegashima, Rifle, Teppo keywords: weapon related topics: Sengoku period , Oda nobunaga , Battle of Nagashino related web sites: http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~kaze_k/special-02.htm explanation: In 1543, a Chinese ship carrying Portuguese had wrecked on Tanegashima island. Local seignior, Tanegashima Tokitaka bought 2 rifles from Portuguese and asked a blacksmith to imitate them. Japan being at a civil war period (Sengoku jidai), this new weapon had spread quickly all over Japan. At the famous battle of Nagashino in 1575 near Nagoya, Oda Nobunaga eliminated redoubtable Takeda's cavalry troops by aligning more than 1000 rifles (world's record of that period). | |