Japanese arquebuses of the Edo era. These types of firearms were used by Japanese soldiers during Hideyoshi’s invasions 1380 to 1488
The advances in guns there with the Japanese adoption of Portuguese muskets through Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea in the 1590s. Although guns were widely available in the struggle for supremacy in China during the mid-fourteenth century, they became a cornerstone of the Ming army only after the Ming conquest of China. Before the end of the fourteenth century, almost 10 percent of the army’s 1.2–1.8 million soldiers were armed with guns. The capital’s arsenals produced 3,000 cannon and 3,000 handguns annually from 1380 to 1488. These weapons were widely deployed and initially gave Ming armies an advantage over neighboring states that were not so armed. European advances in gun technology were quickly adopted in China, and the cannon it brought into the field owed as much to the West as
did the Japanese army’s muskets. http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?cat=12
According to popular mythology, firearms were first introduced to Japan in 1543 by a couple of Portuguese men shipwrecked on the island of Tanegashima. Other theories place firearms in Japan even earlier, via illegal trading routes with mainland Asia. Either way, firearms were first widely adopted in warfare in the mid-to-late 16th century, and played a significant role during that period of conflict in which the entire nation was consumed in a civil war, as feudal lords competed for the position of Shogun (a political and military leadership position sanctioned by the emperor).
http://tgfblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/guns-in-medeaval-japan/
This firearm was part of my great-grandfather's collection. If you are interested in this piece please send an offer to marcelo@mabeweb.com Payments may be made by PayPal.