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Description
The Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle (89式小銃 ), referred to as the type 89 5.56mm rifle is a Japanese assault rifle used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Coast Guard's Special Security Team units,and the Special Assault Team. It was never exported outside Japan due to its strict anti-hardware export policy. It is known in JGSDF service as Buddy.

The Type 89 was introduced to replace the Howa Type 64 battle rifle in frontline units.

During the Vietnam War, the United States military replaced the M14 with the M16 for a variety of reasons, one of the most important being the advantage of increased rate of fire, light weight, and lower recoil of the 5.56×45mm NATO round over the larger 7.62×51mm NATO round. The Japanese Defense Agency began development on their next generation assault rifle to replace the 7.62×51mm Type 64 battle rifle after its 25-year span of service.

Development was handled primarily by Howa since it was already licensed to produce the AR-180 version of the Armalite AR-18 rifle for commercial purposes. In order to determine suitability of the rifle, it was issued in limited numbers to the Japan Self-Defense Forces for field testing purposes. After the data collected from the field testing stage of the AR-18 was examined, formal development of the next-generation assault rifle began with its designation as the HR-16 (HR1604). The HR-15 was the first version of the experimental rifle that would eventually become the Type 89.

Description
The Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle (89式小銃 ), referred to as the type 89 5.56mm rifle is a Japanese assault rifle used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Coast Guard's Special Security Team units,and the Special Assault Team. It was never exported outside Japan due to its strict anti-hardware export policy. It is known in JGSDF service as Buddy.

The Type 89 was introduced to replace the Howa Type 64 battle rifle in frontline units.

During the Vietnam War, the United States military replaced the M14 with the M16 for a variety of reasons, one of the most important being the advantage of increased rate of fire, light weight, and lower recoil of the 5.56×45mm NATO round over the larger 7.62×51mm NATO round. The Japanese Defense Agency began development on their next generation assault rifle to replace the 7.62×51mm Type 64 battle rifle after its 25-year span of service.

Development was handled primarily by Howa since it was already licensed to produce the AR-180 version of the Armalite AR-18 rifle for commercial purposes. In order to determine suitability of the rifle, it was issued in limited numbers to the Japan Self-Defense Forces for field testing purposes. After the data collected from the field testing stage of the AR-18 was examined, formal development of the next-generation assault rifle began with its designation as the HR-16 (HR1604). The HR-15 was the first version of the experimental rifle that would eventually become the Type 89.