Manufactured by the Tokyo Arsenal from 1909 to 1928, the Baby Nambu was the semi-official officer's pistol of the Imperial Japanese Military. During that time period, Japanese officers were expected to acquire their own sidearms, typically through the Officers Union system. Imported European and American pocket pistols, particularly Browning designs, were very popular, and the Baby Nambu was intended to provide a home-grown alternative. The resulting pistol combined the size and finish of the foreign offerings with the distinctive Nambu profile and was carried into the field during World War II by many Japanese officers. Fixed sights, with the "stacked cannonball" arsenal marking on top of the chamber and the nomenclature markings and serial number on the right side of the frame. A fine straw finish is present on the trigger and sear bar, with finely checkered grips and a nickel finished magazine. The pistol has matching numbers overall, including the grip panels and one of the included magazines, which shows a small dot strike next to the number, the traditional indicator for the spare magazine. Also included with the pistol is a (non-matching) nickel finished spare magazine, cleaning rod and a brown leather clamshell holster.

Very fine with 98% plus finely restored blue, showing a small amount of shallow pitting (under the blue) on the front of the recoil spring housing and barrel, along with some mild edge wear and handling marks. The grips are very fine, with some light dents on the exterior and mild sanding/cleaning on the inside of the left panel. The holster is very good, with some of the closure hardware detached but included and a number of cracks and scuffs. Mechanically excellent.