The Japanese Army and Navy of the 1920s and 30s often used quite different equipment, and had a substantial interservice rivalry. Flare guns were one example of this separation, with the services using not just different flare pistols, but totally different flare cartridges. The Navy used a 28mm flare (mostly in double and triple barreled launchers like we saw last week), while the Army used a 35mm flare mostly in single barrel launchers like this Type 35.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Type 10 flare pistol is its similarity to the Type 26 revolver, with which is shares a number of distinctive features including the grips, spurless hammer, and trigger guard. These flare pistols were typically issued in leather holsters, but towards the end of the war a substitute type made of rubberized canvas was also issued - one of which is being sold with this Type 10.