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lol! I stand corrected! It's been over 30 years since I researched the rifle and that was of course well before I had use of the Internet. I believe I got much of my info back then from American Rifleman magazine.

The Arisaka, while made by the Japanese, was based around the basic German Mauser design. Again, my memories are unclear but I believe he told me he took it from a dead Japanese soldier in the battle for Saipan. I have no knowledge of how he got it back to the US.

In the pics below you can see it has the chrysanthemum intact. It also has finger groves that were probably carved into the stock by the soldier who carried it. I always thought that the most interesting feature, right ahead of the folding tree sight, good to up to 1500 meters. As if the naked eye could see that far.

Ugly, ain't it? They weren't made for looks, they were made to kill. And from my experiences shooting it it probably did that very well.

Yep, you’ve got the chrysanthemum... which means that you’ve got to immediately deliver it to the nearest Japanese embassy, as it’s the property of the Japanese emporer. :)

Your finger grips are eerie. Gives it a real sense of personality from the original “owner.”

The “Arsenal Mark” on mine indicates that it was manufactured by Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo) 1870-1935, or Kokura Arsenal 1935-1945. Based on the “Series 25” mark, it seems to confirm that mine was manufactured at the Kokura Arsenal between 1939 and 1945.

The kokura Arsenal manufactured 100,000 rifles in the 20 series starting in 1939, 100,000 in each of the 21-22-23 and 24 series, and 92,000 rifles in the 25 series, ending in 1945. Assuming that these numbers are sequential, that tells me that my rifle was probably made in 1944 or 1945, near the end of the war. As the war progressed and things became more and more dire for the Japanese, cost saving steps were introduced in order to speed up production. Late war rifles are often called “Last Ditch” due to their crudeness of finish. However, Dad’s has an anti-aircraft sight on it, which was supposedly deleted from the “Last Ditch” rifles.

But all of that aside, mine could be worth $1 or $1000 and it would all be the same to me. It’s something that I have inherited from my father, and the sentimental value can’t be measured in dollars. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t sell it for a million bucks, but certainly not just because I could use some fast cash. :)

Hey, I actually learned something today about Dad’s rifle while doing a little research. I had no idea that it had a safety, but it does. You’d think I’d have discovered that already that after >50 years of me “playing” with it. :)