One of the great rarities of the War in the Pacific, this is one of the very few Type 5 "Garand" semi-automatic rifles manufactured by Imperial Japan during World War II. Only approximately 125 complete Type 5s were reportedly manufactured between c. 1944-1945 before the war ended, with enough parts for approximately 200 rifles, according to information on page 170 of "Military Rifles of Japan" (1983) by Honeycutt and Anthony. While the bolt action Type 38 and Type 99 Arisakas would be Japan's mainstay infantry shoulder arms throughout the war, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy was already exploring an upgrade to semi-automatic as early as the 1920s. In the 1930s they were considering a home-grown weapon based on the Pedersen toggle lock, but development was stalled by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The issue was revisited in 1944 due to requests for a new weapon that could counter the firepower advantage that the M1 Garand gave to America's infantrymen. Deciding to fight fire with fire, the answer was an M1 Garand variant configured to take 7.7mm Japanese ammo, dubbed the Type 5 rifle. Following very closely in the footsteps of the M1 Garand, this Type 5 shows some elements of the Arisaka in its design, particularly in the construction of the stock and the configuration of the sights. A key mechanical difference is in the loading system, doing away with the Garand's en-bloc clip system in favor of external clips, and extending the internal double stacked magazine to permit a 10-round capacity, with an extended cupped floorplate instead of the Garand's flat plate. Dismounting the receiver is performed via lifting the trigger guard, similar to the M1 Garand, but the trigger group is secured to the stock with a combination of a rear shelf and a front screw. The stock is made from a similar inletted style to the Type 99, including a set of metal tang straps on the top and bottom of the wrist, side mounted sling swivels and a cupped steel buttplate. The number "20" is stamped on the concealed bottom breech area of the barrel.

Very fine, retains 80% original black painted finish with some minor high edge wear and scattered flaking on the balance. Stock is fine with numerous scattered pressure dents and scratches. Mechanically fine. This extremely rare Japanese Prototype Type 5 "Garand" rifle would certainly fit in any advanced military firearms collection.