Kunitomo's matchlock guns that changed the history of Japan in the warring states

 What do you think this is？

In the 16th century (1543), two guns (matchlock guns) were introduced by Portuguese people boarding on a ship that was shipwrecked on Tanegashima Island（southwestern islands off kyushu）in Japan.

From the following year, Ashikaga shogunate commanded to produce these guns here in Kunitomo-cho, currently Nagahama City, Japan.

With the advent of guns, the way of battle during the Sengoku period of Japan (the period of the warring states) has dramatically changed. Please see the last picture.

This is a matchlock gun performance held on October 12th in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Three preservation societies of matchlock guns participated in this performance. They use rolled up tissue paper for safety instead of the usual bullets.

 Before firing the gun, a lit rope is fixed to a device attached outside of the barrel which moves up and down together with a trigger, and when the trigger is pulled, the lit rope drops on the small container in which a gunpowder is placed, firing the bullet. In the following photo, the shooter is attempting to fix the lit rope to the gun (red arrow).

The mechanism of a matchlock gun.

A matchlock gun is functionally a weapon, but structurally it can be considered a machine.　A shooter fixes a lit rope between the black device indicated by the orange arrow. When the trigger is pulled, this black device drops down and ignites the gunpowder.

 Let me explain this in a little more detail. The container of a gunpowder made from iron is usually covered with the safety equipment made from brass.  When shooters use this gun, they move a handle of the equipment (indicated by blue arrow) in order to ignite the gunpowder.

 A battle scene using matchlock guns during the Sengoku period (the period of the warring states), a period from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century. The army on the right only have spears and swords, so they can be no match for the left army. This picture is exhibited in Kunitomo museum of matchlock guns.

But during the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, it is said that many modern guns were introduced from post-Civil War America, then these modern guns made the matchlock gun completely obsolete.