Japanese Army Ceramic Grenade

[rabbit indy]

New items have been added to my collection.
This is Japanese Army ceramic grenade from WW2.
A grenade made at the Bizen ware factory in Okayama.
It is 8.3cm high and 5.9cm in diameter.
Weight is 157 gram and there is a number 16 at the bottom.

yoshiyuki

[GeorgeP]

Interesting item. Are these being excavated in Okayama now?


Tom

[Jareth]

Is this a training grenade?

[JapanX]

Nope. The real one.
This variation is known.

[JapanX]

NEW WEAPONS CAPTURED AT ORMOC

Ordnance Intelligence men who advanced with combat troop into the Ormoc area of Leyte Island have recovered four new-type Japanese weapons, ranging from a hand grenade to an artillery piece. Some of these weapons had been known but not seen, and their capture in the Philippines indicates that the newest and best items from Japan's industrial arsenal will be met with increasing frequency as U.S. forces move closer to Tokyo.

CERAMIC HAND GRENADE

Of primary interest to the infantryman is the discovery of a ceramic hand grenade, the size and shape of a baseball. A short bottle neck protrudes from the sphere, and the external appearance of the grenade resembles an old-fashioned idea of a bomb. A loop of white tape is tied into a groove around the neck, apparently for carrying. The grenade body is made either of white porcelain or glazed pottery, and is covered with a close-fitting, tan rubber cover.

A rubber plug is cemented in the bottle neck and holds the simple fuze. This detonator is no more than a blasting cap crimped on to a five-second length of fuze. The other end of the fuze, which is outside the rubber plug, is covered with a match-head composition. A slip-on rubber cap covers the whole neck, and fuze. A small, loose wooden block with an abrasive composition on one side is contained in the rubber fuze cover.
Weighing less than a pound, this grenade is easy to throw, but the thrower must be careful not to strike a nearby hard object, such as a tree, as the porcelain shatters easily. The grenade is ignited by removing the rubber fuze cover and scratching the striker block across the match-head composition. It also seems possible to light the fuze with a cigarette. The grenade should be thrown as soon as the fuze is lighted.

This grenade is entirely a concussion weapon, as there is considerable blast but little fragmentation resulting from the explosion.

Two views of the Ceramic Hand Grenade showing (left) the grenade with carrying tape and exposed match-head fuze, and (right) the grenade with rubber cover and rubber fuze cap

[JapanX]

Source.

[JapanX]

By the way, this is how soviet version of the ceramic grenade looks like.
Circa 1942.

[rabbit indy]

Sorry, the ceramic grenades I uploaded turned out to be fake.
It seems that a certain number was made about ten years ago.
It seems that it can be identified by the font of the numbers on the bottom. I will leave the photo for reference. Be careful.

yoshiyuki

[rabbit indy]

This is original ceramic grenade in my collection.
Used in IJN, it has different shape than IJA’s ceramic grenade.
The navy’s is round and ball-shaped.
The size is 8.5cm in height and 8cm in diameter.
There are a lot of navy ceramic grenades left so market price is easy, so no fake is made.
However, there are not many army ceramic grenades left, so fakes have been made
for about 30 years.

yoshiyuki

[Mauser HSc]

Very nice IJN ceramic grenade! Most I've seen lately have chips in the top. Do the IJA versions look more like the "pineapple" style you posted earlier?

[JCB]

Ceramic grenade

Rabbit Indy, yes, that is a reproduction, the appearance, number font style and thin walled light weight are characteristics of these newly produced grenades. The originals are heavier, thick walled and numbered differently. The originals almost always have a few chips, cracks, glazing wear and are dirty and dusty inside. The new ones are perfect and brand new looking.

Facebook page for Japanese ordnance collectors:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/334672...&source=result

My twitter Japanese ordnance page:

https://mobile.twitter.com/jcb89319357?lang=en

All are welcome.
Jim
JapaneseOrdnance(at)yahoo.com

[rabbit indy]

Very nice IJN ceramic grenade! Most I've seen lately have chips in the top. Do the IJA versions look more like the "pineapple" style you posted earlier?

I have three IJN pottery grenades, it is unusual for the top of grenades to be unbroken. Because many are damaged. IJA ceramic grenades are very similar to US pineapple grenades. Navy ceramic grenades are round and baseball type.
However, there are very rare Army ceramic grenades. Almost no surviving. See the picture below.

yoshiyuki

[rabbit indy]

Rabbit Indy, yes, that is a reproduction, the appearance, number font style and thin walled light weight are characteristics of these newly produced grenades. The originals are heavier, thick walled and numbered differently. The originals almost always have a few chips, cracks, glazing wear and are dirty and dusty inside. The new ones are perfect and brand new looking.

Facebook page for Japanese ordnance collectors:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/334672...&source=result

My twitter Japanese ordnance page:

https://mobile.twitter.com/jcb89319357?lang=en

All are welcome.
Jim
JapaneseOrdnance(at)yahoo.com

Hello Jim,


Thank you for the great information. It will be very helpful. There are many fake IJA ceramic grenades, and it is difficult to collect them.

yoshiyuki

[JCB]

Japanese ceramic weapons

Here are a few pics of my Japanese ceramic ordnance. I’ve been collecting all my life.

All inert and deactivated, part of a private historical military collection

Jim
JapaneseOrdnance(at)yahoo.com

Various Japanese WWII ceramic grenades both for training and combat.

<a href="https://ibb.co/DQTB7Ng"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/DQTB7Ng/092-B1-E0-B-92-BE-4-B4-B-BCBB-749972-A4-A596.jpg" alt="092-B1-E0-B-92-BE-4-B4-B-BCBB-749972-A4-A596" border="0"></a>

Various Japanese WWII inert ceramic mines and grenades.

<a href="https://ibb.co/JFvdShR"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/JFvdShR/68-F6-A056-ABC2-4-F9-F-A072-313-F8-DB8-F7-EA.jpg" alt="68-F6-A056-ABC2-4-F9-F-A072-313-F8-DB8-F7-EA" border="0"></a>

Massive Japanese WWII building demolition ceramic mine. Experimental Japanese ceramic hopping mine.

<a href="https://ibb.co/GF8TWQ5"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/GF8TWQ5/6166-CDAC-9-C93-45-CC-93-CF-FC29-F23-EDD34.jpg" alt="6166-CDAC-9-C93-45-CC-93-CF-FC29-F23-EDD34" border="0"></a>

Rare Japanese ceramic grenade made in Burma.

<a href="https://ibb.co/fSDhjzV"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/fSDhjzV/B94-ADE59-54-EC-4251-BA04-75-A4469-D4-E30.jpg" alt="B94-ADE59-54-EC-4251-BA04-75-A4469-D4-E30" border="0"></a>

<a href="https://ibb.co/f4fk2S9"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/f4fk2S9/1-A50-F9-DB-FC31-41-C9-9063-A552-B2454-D0-A.jpg" alt="1-A50-F9-DB-FC31-41-C9-9063-A552-B2454-D0-A" border="0"></a>

Inert Japanese WWII mine collection.

<a href="https://ibb.co/Yf3JFpk"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/Yf3JFpk/FC4-D128-A-1037-442-E-AC15-369539-BEABA1.jpg" alt="FC4-D128-A-1037-442-E-AC15-369539-BEABA1" border="0"></a>

Japanese military collection. Max militaria show.

<a href="https://ibb.co/QNj6f5g"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/QNj6f5g/3-AAC0-BB0-85-EB-427-B-8-BBA-D3-A5-DE099-D2-D.jpg" alt="3-AAC0-BB0-85-EB-427-B-8-BBA-D3-A5-DE099-D2-D" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/6rq0fHP"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/6rq0fHP/D2480816-B34-E-42-DE-9-B26-A2-C4630-F42-C6.jpg" alt="D2480816-B34-E-42-DE-9-B26-A2-C4630-F42-C6" border="0"></a>

[JCB]

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Japanese WWII Artillery shells, mortar shells, 50mm Type 10/91 mortar grenades, aerial bombs and various ordnance. All Japanese with a little Chinese.

All inert and deactivated, part of a private historical military collection.

<a href="https://ibb.co/TBv2grG"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/TBv2grG/392-E70-BE-E9-C4-4-A2-B-A242-E9-E20-A4-AAB99.jpg" alt="392-E70-BE-E9-C4-4-A2-B-A242-E9-E20-A4-AAB99" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/Wcxt5MF"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/Wcxt5MF/1327-E087-BA11-4-D25-AEAE-319-A9683-A9-A7.jpg" alt="1327-E087-BA11-4-D25-AEAE-319-A9683-A9-A7" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/ng7HyDK"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/ng7HyDK/1-F5-F55-D8-7-F0-C-4-DB7-A0-B9-E43-E3346-CFAC.jpg" alt="1-F5-F55-D8-7-F0-C-4-DB7-A0-B9-E43-E3346-CFAC" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/vwqqbXN"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/vwqqbXN/14-F4695-F-A53-E-4846-B735-0-ACCFB3599-B8.jpg" alt="14-F4695-F-A53-E-4846-B735-0-ACCFB3599-B8" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/HgK244c"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/HgK244c/55-FA686-D-3-F05-49-E4-8-D90-90-FB4-D27-D9-BD.jpg" alt="55-FA686-D-3-F05-49-E4-8-D90-90-FB4-D27-D9-BD" border="0"></a>