[2] Starting in 1901, Japan began importing Hotchkiss MLE 1897 heavy machine guns that were compatible with belt fed 6.5mm Arisaka cartridges.

Japan eventually bought a license for domestic production, with the type seeing notable service during the Russo-Japanese War [3] Japanese gun designer Kijirō Nambu would later modify the domestic Hotchkiss MLE 1897 heavy machine gun to better meet Japanese requirements, to include lessons learned following the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War.

The Type 38 heavy machine gun was still in service at the time of the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

[4] Kijirō Nambu would further modify the Type 38 heavy machine gun in 1909, focusing on improving dissipation and durability.

This would result in the Type 3 heavy machine gun, entering service in 1914 and first seeing action in the 1919 Japanese intervention in Siberia.