Arisaka was born in
Iwakuni,
Suo province (currently part of
Yamaguchi prefecture) as the 4th son of a
samurai retainer of
Chōshū Domain. At the age of 11, he was adopted by firearms craftsman Arisaka Nagayoshi, from whom he took his family name. He served during the
Boshin War and participated in the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi. After the
Meiji Restoration, he enlisted in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. In 1891, he caught the attention of General
Murata Tsuneyoshi, designer of the
Murata rifle, the standard Japanese Army
rifle, and was appointed to a position in the Tokyo Arsenal. In 1897, Arisaka completed work on the
Type 30 rifle, an improvement on the Murata rifle, which was adopted by the Japanese Army as its standard weapon in time for the
Boxer Rebellion. In 1898, he also completed design work on the
Type 31 75 mm mountain gun, and his name became known in the world of
artillery as well as
small arms. However, his earlier designs were not well received by combat troops. The Type 30 Rifle was regarded as underpowered and lacked lethality. The Type 31 guns lacked
recoil buffers and had poor accuracy. In 1903, Arisaka was appointed head of the Army Technical Bureau. He oversaw a committee charged with improving older models, including the Type 30 rifle. The chief designer on the project was Captain
Kijirō Nambu, who would later attain fame as a weapons designer on his own. The result of this project was the famous
Type 38 rifle, otherwise known as the "Arisaka rifle", which was issued to front line
infantry troops just in time for the end of the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The ruggedness of the Type 38 rifle was praised by combat troops, although the issue of its small caliber was not addressed until much later. The Type 38 rifle, and its various modified versions, continued to be used by the Japanese military until the end of
World War II. Throughout the Russo-Japanese War, Arisaka continued to work on improvements and variations to his rifles, and at the request of
Chief of the General Staff Yamagata Aritomo, he also worked on designs for large
caliber siege weapons and fortress guns. In 1906, Arisaka was awarded with the
Order of the Golden Kite (2nd Class) and promoted to
lieutenant general. In 1907, he was further elevated to the
kazoku peerage when he was made a
baron (
danshaku). In 1910, he was awarded with the
Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class). Arisaka died in 1915, and his grave is at the
Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo. ==In popular culture==