#3
Post
by Sewer King » 18 Oct 2004, 04:27
H.I.M. Hirohito is wearing Army full-dress in these photos, same as that of other officers without especial distinctions as head of state, unlike the other Axis leaders.
The cut of the full-dress uniform dates back through the Taisho era, 1912-26. The peaked cap is probably based on that of the French Army kepi, where rank was also shown with successively more gold lace. For parade wear, white-and-red plumes were also worn upright on top of it. The earliest Imperial Army uniforms from the 1870s had been based on the French pattern. Although the braided-cord shoulder straps look German and the looped cuff lace looks Austrian.
These and similar photos are relatively common, but I can't make out clearly what military rank the Emperor held at the time. He seems to be a field-grade officer, but of what arm-of-service is not plain -- that should be given by the color underlay of the standing collar. Nor can I identify his orders and decorations, though I expect some to be related to the Household.
What English-language guides there are to Imperial Japanese uniform focus mainly on the wartime field wear. At least, the ones available to me. Even these have comparatively fewer photos than equivalent books on other armies' uniforms. Full-dress gets mentioned but not described in detail.
The one Japanese-published book I have is something of a standard, Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Uniforms and Equipment by Takao Nakata and Thomas B. Nelson (Hong Kong: Chesa Ltd, revised first edition 1987). Its text and diagrams are in Japanese, and their attached English translation is very limited and basic. Some Army dress uniforms of the same type worn here by the Emperor are shown in color photos. But they are only described in passing in the English text. If the Japanese text tells more I don't know.
I'll try to get more if someone more knowledgeable doesn't do better first. Japanese uniform does not draw the collector's interest as much as the German, especially when there's much less of its plainer-looking items to be found. It's like the North Vietnamese uniform -- there are collector examples, but no great general draw there either. One author added that the smaller sizes of simple North Vietnamese uniforms, plain and partly ChiCom in origin, also made them less interesting. And less collected.
This lack of detail info on Imperial uniform is in great contrast to the interest in Japanese swords, of which there are far more overseas than in Japan itself. Who anywhere claims a large collection of original uniform? There may be someone, or some who have good selections. But except maybe for the book above, it hasn't been studied in print and photo that I know of.
Compare it also to the large amount of original uniform regulations still available for German, British, French, or American uniforms. How much survives of Japanese regulations?
And even if there are collections, or administrative history and regulations -- are they in Japan? Researching original Japanese history at the source might be a steep and discouraging effort, even if you're fluent in the language. And assuming you can spend the time, money, travel, and connections to do so.
Still, I hope someone else can speak with more authority, and maybe even some sources.
There are some excellent modelings of original Imperial Japanese uniform in back issues of the now-defunct Anglo-French Militaria magazine from the 1980s-90s. But none I saw were for full-dress. Again, only service dress, field uniform, and field equipment.
As a matter of interest, some commonly reproduced illustrations of Japanese field uniform and equipment -- paratroopers, naval infantry -- turn out to be drawn from the photos in the Nakata-Nelson book.
