Tanegashima was the name given to the matchlock firearm introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders in 1543.
Portuguese merchants reached Tanegashima, an island south of Kyushu, after their vessel arrived there in 1543. Japanese craftsmen studied the imported firearm and began producing local copies. Because the weapon was associated with the island where it first appeared, “Tanegashima” became a common Japanese name for the matchlock gun.
The firearm spread rapidly during the Sengoku period and changed Japanese warfare. Daimyo equipped large infantry formations with guns, while castle defenses and battlefield tactics adapted to gunpowder weapons. The introduction did not make the sword obsolete: samurai still used swords as sidearms and status symbols, and armies combined firearms with bows, spears, cavalry, and fortifications. The arrival date is usually given as 1543, though accounts of the event were recorded later and details vary.