Artifact Friday: Type 14 Nambu Pistol

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Throughout World War II and many wars before and after, it has been customary for a surrendering officer to offer their pistol to the enemy officer who had bested them. The tradition of surrendering one’s weapon has been widely used since the 16th century and likely occurred long before then.

By the time of World War II, it was a sign of submission for an officer of a Western nation to hand over their service weapon, and the victor would have the opportunity to let them keep it as a sign of respect. In Japan, however, there was no such thing as an honorable surrender. This is why Japan’s total surrender on September 2nd, 1945, caused a worldwide sigh of relief.

Japan’s military traditions and ideals during World War II can only be described as extremist and fanatical. To surrender was the ultimate disgrace to the Japanese military, as they viewed themselves as honorable warriors. Unlike Western leaders, the idea of surrender could not possibly be honorable. Oftentimes, Japanese officers would opt for ritual suicide over surrender.

When Japan finally did surrender, Emperor Hirohito ordered all Japanese military units to surrender, and their officers were to hand over their swords and pistols to their Allied Forces counterparts. Although this order was not received well and was not executed smoothly, that is how we received a Type 14 Nambu Pistol of our own. While the deck of the USS Missouri hosted the surrender treaty signing, countless smaller surrenders were occurring across China and the Pacific for many days. The final surrender did not occur until 1974, 28 years, 6 months, and 9 days after the official end of World War II.