and placed in charge of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. He reorganized the army arsenal system in 1923 and was named Commander of the Army Explosives Arsenal and Army Institute of Scientific research. In 1924, he retired from active military service, Nambu founded the Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company in Tokyo in 1927, with financial backing from the Okura zaibatsu . Nambu received many contracts from both the Japanese army and navy for side arms, light machine guns and heavy machine guns, and also for testing and evaluation of many foreign designs. This included the Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun, Type 94 8 mm Pistol, Type II machine pistol, Type 100 submachine gun and licensed production of the Type 99 Light Machine Gun. At the end of World War II, Nambu announced that his company would cease all weapons production; however, his facilities were sequestered under the American occupation authorities and continued to produce equipment (under the name Shin-Chuō Industries) for the police and subsequently for the post-war Japanese National Safety Forces, the predecessor to the current Japanese Self-Defense Force. Nambu died in May 1949, and his company was absorbed into the Japanese precision equipment manufacturer Minebea Co. Weapons Types A, B, and 14 Nambu Pistol Type 94 Nambu pistol Type 100 Nambu SMG Type 3 Nambu HMG Type 92 Nambu HMG Type 11 Nambu LMG Type 96 Nambu LMG Type 97 Nambu LMG Type 99 Nambu LMG Type 38 Arisaka rifle Type 44 Arisaka carbine Type 99 Arisaka rifle References Bishop, Chris (eds) The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Barnes & Nobel. 1998. Chant, Chris, Small Arms of World War II. Zenith Press 2002. Hogg, Ian. Greenhill Military Small Arms Databook. Greenhill Books. 1999. Nila, Gary, Japanese Naval Aviation Uniforms and Equipment 1937-45 (Elite) Osprey Publishing 2002, Notes External links Dragons of Fire.com Japanese Nambu Pistols Nambu World: A Brief History of Japanese Handguns Firearm designers People from Saga Prefecture 1869 births 1949 deaths Japanese generals Postwar Japan