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Description
1923 Imperial Japanese Army Ordnance School – Infantry Shooting Manual Draft (Private Commentary)
By Artillery Captain Tadakazu Matsuo
Mimeograph / 47 pages
This is an original Taisho 12 (1923) mimeographed manuscript created by
Artillery Captain Tadakazu Matsuo of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Matsuo was dispatched from the Army Ordnance School (formerly the Army Engineering School) to the Infantry School in order to prepare the official shooting textbook.
This booklet represents his private commentary and draft made for compiling the future official “Kyōtei” (Army instructional texts).
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■ Historical Background
The late Taisho period was a turning point for the Imperial Japanese Army.
After World War I, Japan sought to modernize ballistic science, shooting theory, and technical officer education.
The Ordnance School served as the core institution for military engineering, overseeing ballistics, weapons design, and shooting methodology.
This draft reflects the Army’s effort to introduce more scientific approaches to:
• trajectory and ballistic analysis
• aiming and sighting theory
• individual and unit live-fire training
• accuracy and hit-probability calculations
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■ Highlights
• 47 pages of handwritten text and diagrams
• Detailed ballistic sketches: sight line, angle of elevation, trajectory curves
• Tables of firing distances, angles, and hit probabilities
• Rare mimeograph printing (difficult to preserve, few survive today)
• Pre-official draft explaining how the Army’s shooting doctrine was formed
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■ Significance
Documents of this type were never mass-produced.
They were internal study materials for officers involved in writing the official manuals.
For collectors or researchers of Japanese militaria, this is a true primary source showing the developmental stage of Imperial Army shooting doctrine.
Own a Piece of History.
A rare surviving artifact from the formative period of Japanese military science.
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