Japanese Forces

Type 89 Knee Mortar

The Type 89 Knee Mortar was issued at the platoon level to a single soldier who carried the tube strapped along the leg. This led quickly to the weapon being referred to as the ‘leg mortar.’ When US troops captured these weapons, a bad translation of this moniker led to the term ‘knee mortar’ and it has stuck. The curved T-shaped base of the Type 89 seemed to reinforce this belief. However, when US troops tried to test fire recycled knee mortars from the knee, broken bones happened.