While picking up my Tula today, I was offered an opportunity to bring home a battle-weary Arisaka 30 with an intact chrysanthemum. The Type 30 rifle was adopted in Meiji 30 (1897) and was the primary weapon used in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and also saw limited action during WWI. It is a five-shot box-fed bolt action rifle that fires the nearly impossible to find 6.5x50 SR Arisaka round.
This rifle, like Blicero's example, was also manufactured at the Tokyo Koishikawa Arsenal, but rolled off the line during the last year of production in 1905 and has not been retrofitted with the trigger guard safety to prevent accidentally dumping the 5 round magazine if wearing gloves. This feature was incorporated in rifles that were exported to other countries such as Great Brittan, Russia, Finland, China, and others.
The kanji under the mum on the receiver cover reads "san-ju-nen-shiki, "30th year type"" or more simply Type 30. The two holes on the receiver cover were for venting gases upward and away from the face of the user in the event the brass cartridge case split or separated. This feature, in some form, is seen on all Arisaka rifles.
The serial number is only located on the left side of the receiver and is followed by the arsenal stamp and additional kanji which are inspection marks. The milled trigger group and magazine floor plate are void of markings. The stock may or may not contain a cartouch representing the name of the inspector.
When viewing these rifles, one may think that the stock is cracked, but the Arisaka 30 butt stocks were made from 2 pieces of wood secured by a bolt at the back of the extended trigger housing and another on the thin sheet metal like butt plate. The stocks were originally finished in tung oil, when built, in Japan, so some with sensitivities may have a reaction when handling them.
The bayonet that was issued with the Type 30 was massive, measuring 15.75" from its hooked quillion guard to blade tip and 20.25" overall, but this may have been to compensate for the length of the rifle which measures some 50" in length. Also, unlike many other types of bayonets, the Arisaka 30 bayo was sharpened on one side and could serve as a shōtō or short sword for close combat or as a last ditch weapon.
So, here are a couple of pics of my rusty, yet intact and original Tokyo Rose: