Torii Musket

The Torii Musket is the popular nickname of the Yamatai Imperial Army's muzzle-loading smoothbore New Type Musket (新式火縄銃) and its derivatives. The nickname originates from the Imperial Mon stamped on each of the muskets, which bears a. The musket was introduced in 1730 and remained in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its design. These versions include the Short New Type, the Nanyokuni Type, the Improved New Type, and the Naval Type Muskets.

The New Type Musket and its derivatives, all 20mm calibre flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the Yamataian Empire's land forces from 1730 until 1835, when they were superseded by the Type-11 Musket, a percussion cap smoothbore musket. Many Torii Musket flintlocks were converted into the new percussion system and became known as the Type-11-Hen Musket. The Type-11 Muskets were eventually replaced in 1848 with the Iwasaki rifle, a breech-loading cartridge rifle.

Muskets had been in use in Yamatai since the early 16th century, and are known locally as. Founded during the Second Yamataian Civil War, the Imperial Army was initially a combined force of private armies raised by various Yamataian feudal domains, and was armed with a massive variety of of matchlocks and flintlocks, depending on what each domain could afford or had access to. These guns were generally made by local gunsmiths and varied greatly in quality, with some also having come from Chisei, Chanha, and from as far as Amphia via the colonial trade.

As part of the Matsubara Reforms to the Imperial Army, which sought to impose standardisation and return the Imperial Army to a truly centralised force, a modern firearm was sought to replace the numerous types of muskets in service. In 1730, the Imperial Army selected a flintlock design to be the new standardised weapon of the Imperial Army, and the first Torii Muskets were produced that year to an exact pattern at Kawazaki Arsenal, one of the first gun factories in the world.

Alongside its Chiseian counterpart, the Torii musket is also viewed as a symbol of Escaric colonialism. The Torii musket was one of the most widely proliferated standardised muskets in Escar, with the design also seeing duplication in the former Ratana Empire and Hinomoto, as well as hand-made by various bootleg producers. These guns do not have the Imperial Mon stamp, and in the present day are considered even more valuable as historical artifacts than genuine Torii muskets. Due to their ubiquity, numerous Torii muskets remain in existence today, and are often valued as historical artifacts and collector's items. Replica guns also exist, including firing replicas.