In 1944, an antiaircraft artilleryman in Tokyo found that the firing pin on his rifle had broken off. The following is his account of the incident.
I felt my blood freeze because we had been told that "the rifle is a gracious gift from the Emperor. Treat it with greater value than your life." In a daze, I walked towards the tracks of the Yamanote line nearby and would have thrown myself onto the path of the oncoming train when I heard the order to assemble. I came to myself with a start, and rushing to the front of the line I told the commanding officer, "I'm very sorry, sir, but I broke the firing pin on my rifle."
Caught off guard, the commanding officer only said," Leave the matter to me. "That was the end of the incident, but many soldiers lost their lives under similar circumstances.
一九四四年，東京一個防空砲手發覺他步槍的撞針脫掉。他記述這件事如下。
我大驚失色，因為我們聽過囑咐：「步槍是天皇恩賜的禮物，愛惜要勝過自己的生命。」我茫然走向就近那條山手線鐵路，正準備跳到迎面而來的火車之前，卻聽到集合的命令，這才猛然如夢初醒，匆匆走到隊伍之前，告訴指揮官：「我把步槍的撞針弄脫了，罪過，罪過。」
由於事出無備，指揮官只是說： 「這件事，由我處理吧。」事情就這樣告一段落，但不少士兵在同樣情況下都丟了性命。