Matchlock gun

Portuguese who were shipwrecked near a small island south of Kyushu introduced firearms to Japan in 1543. Domestic firearm production and gunpowder-mixing techniques then spread rapidly throughout the country. Firearms revolutionized battle strategy in Japan, which had previously been organized around bows and arrows and stone catapults.

Matchlocks are a kind of musket in which shot and gunpowder are inserted, then fired by lighting a fuse. The effective range of the matchlock is said to be about two hundred meters, and a well-trained soldier would be able to fire four shots per minute at the most. A rabbit, a symbol of longevity, decorates this matchlock gun. The rabbit is an auspicious animal believed to be a spirit of the moon, where it lives for a thousand years.