The honourable Ota-san is too kind. At his request I will accept my appointment as Chief of the Nippon Army, for there is much work to be done in said army. Even in the loyal armies of Chubu, I saw senior and junior officers alike carry pistol-weapons with origins unknown. How can we be certain of the loyalty of our officers when they accept "gifts" from the Nanban? From past experience we can quite clearly note that such gifts always come with the expectation of service in return. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine this situation to be any better in the Southern parts of Japan.
In order to preserve the integrity of our forces and to shield them from the temptations of Nanban influence, I advise the honourable members of the Roju council to take the production of firearm weaponry into our own hands and not allow the Nanban such leverage over our armed forces. Step by step, industry will take over our country; this is inevitable. It is your responsibility to guide its emergence and shape the industry of Nippon to fit our culture and our ways. There is no need for a clothes factory to craft "jeans" when it can craft a kimono and so be of service to our established ways. Similarly, we need not rely on the imports of flawed weaponry from vermin which considers itself our superiors when our factories, Nippon's own factories, can reliably produce pistol-weapons for our officers and rifles for our soldiers.
I plead to the Roju council to, in all their wisdom, strive towards blending such advanced industry into our established culture.
- General Takeda Saburo
