Concerned by reports of Chinese purchases of Vickers six-ton tanks[1] and rising tensions with the Soviet Red Army along the Manchurian border,[2] the IJA issued a requirement for an anti-tank rifle in 1935.

The Kokura Arsenal built eight prototypes for the second round of trials held at the Army Infantry School in 1937, after which the IJA rejected the Nagoya weapon.

After another round of trials in December at the infantry and cavalry schools, the weapon was accepted as the Type 97 Automatic Cannon.

[3] Despite reports that it can fire in full-automatic mode,[1][4] the weapon is semi-automatic only as it lacks a selector to disable the semi-auto disconnector.

[9] Based on a captured Japanese ammunition table, the Type 97 round was credited with the ability to penetrate 30 mm (1.2 in) of armour at 90° at a range of 250 metres (270 yd).

[12] The weapon first saw combat during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, where it reportedly disabled a number of the lightly armoured vehicles used by the Soviets at that time.

[Note 1] The rifle was not widely deployed in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, although it was used by the Teishin Shudan paratroopers of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.