Are these original WW2 Japanese Naval Shoulder Boards? Attached an image of 16 full size pairs and 4 small pairs. Some are still sealed in a waxed-type paper. An image also of the rear of a couple of them. Many thanks.
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Yes, these are WWII originals but they might not have come home with a vet!
In the mid-to late 1980's (yes, I was buying Japanese stuff back then) many, many original, unissued pairs of shoulder boards and collar tabs (the small ones) were brought in from Japan and sold on the West Coast thru a well known dealer at the Great Western show and his mail order catalogs. They were minty and sealed just like yours. There was also a preponderance of the red (medical) and white piped (paymaster/accounting) variety like the ones you display. These colors are not highly sought after like an aviation (blue) or even engineering (purple piping). Not saying these came from that source but it's highly possible.
As fancy as they look - the highest rank you have is a captain (not the title of captain - the rank of captain) and then they go down to basic ensign. Sorry - no highly desirable admirals ranks :-)
Nevertheless, they are cool and I have collected them over the years and they display nicely. Good find!Last edited by beretta1934; 07-06-2020, 08:10 AM. -
I concur with above!Comment
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I also agree nice lot you have there. CliffComment
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Do you mean Lieutenant rank in the navy, the equivalent to Capt. in the army?Originally posted by beretta1934 View Post
Third column, third row from top, isn't that an admiral rank?
There are some Commander and Lt. Commander ranks. I don't see any Capt. ranks though.
I think I see some engineering ones on 2nd,3rd columns, 4th rows, Lt. ranks. Looks purple to me.
I would say having pairs would be worth more than a single. There seem to be a few pairs.
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One stripe = Company officers
Two stripes = Field officers
Wide stripe = AdmiralComment
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Seebee1, I certainly missed the Admirals board. Hard to tell about colors from your pics - do us all a favor and follow this chart and you determine exactly what you have and report back to use the final tally. Sort of a "teach a man to fish" exercise...
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Many thanks for the comments and observations. I will take some better pictures in due course, but have to decide whether or not to open the ones that are still sealed. I think I probably will, otherwise I will never know what exactly is in them. The Shoulder Boards are located in the UK and were with an original and untouched collection of MI 9 Escape and Evasion Aids, Compasses, Silk Maps and other things that had never been on the open market. Why I wanted to know if there were authentic is wondering if they had any connection with MI 9. At the moment though I do not see any connection.Comment
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The photo guide that beretta1934 posted is really good to help ID the ranks and branch colors. It is still a good find though. It seems you can kind of see through the paper if you don't want to open it. Maybe a high power flashlight to help look through it?Comment
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That reference is ok but the pilot & bombers insignia on bottom right side is an incorrect fantasy designComment
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Um, ok...covered a fantasy patch with another fantasy patchComment
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