Place of origin Empire of Japan Designed 1903 No. built 1,200 | Designer Hino Kumazo Produced 1908–1912 | |
Manufacturer Komuro Juhou Seisakusho | ||
The Hino–Komuro M1908 was a blow-forward operated, semi-automatic pistol of Japanese origin and was patented by Yujiro Komuro.
It was chambered in 8mm Nambu, .32 ACP, and .25 ACP. The 8mm chambering was later dropped as the cartridge proved too powerful for the design.
As of December 1992, a cache of 17 Hino–Komuro Pistols chambered in .32 ACP were found in a warehouse that are believed to have been stored for 45 years and seven were retained by Japanese authorities for evaluation when the rest were scheduled for destruction as they were not legally registered. A small number of these weapons are considered highly collectible firearms in the United States.
The designer himself, Kumazo Hino, was also famous as a great inventor and an aviation pioneer. Most of the records were lost when Hino's home in Tokyo was fire bombed during World War II.