Japanese Admiral's Tunic Question

[Bob Hritz]

This week I looked at a collection and saw a Japanese army general tunic and a navy admiral's tunic. On the navy tunic, the sleeve braid was black, on a dark blue tunic. Is this correct?

A;lso, the army general's tunic was just the standard combat lightweight tunic with much wear. Did generals' use regulation field whuality tunics? With the army generals tunic came a british white pith helmet with the Japanese general's collar tab worn on the side. It looked to have been there forever. There was also a visor hat, but it looked like a standard officer's hat. Is there a different hat for a general?

Bob Hritz

[Leroy]

Bob,
I can't tell you about the Army material, but black braid on the Navy is absolutely correct. I would love to have a Japanese Admiral's blue closed collar tunic.
Best,
Leroy


P.S. Forgot to add that, at least since the early 60's, these uniforms have been made up by a guy in Japan very convincingly for films ("I Bombed Pearl Harbor", etc.). Most real ones I have seen have a tag with the owner's family name in Kanji.

[Jareth]

Bob, as Leroy said high ranking navy tunics have been made for films AND faked since the 60's. The name tag should be researched before hand. The army generals tunics are also a minefield! Most if not all officer's tunics were private purchased & of a higher quality then issued uniforms. I'd be wary over an enlisted (interior ink stamps) tunics with general rank tabs. Generals would wear either standard peak cap with red band (check interior to see if name matches) or tropical field cap both being of a higher quality & privately purchased. Collectors & dealers thought nothing of adding original collar tabs to tunics in the early days. I have one British style pith helmet with officer's tab on side. They did it. Does the name in the pith match the tunic? Once again, without the army generals name it will be tough to confirms originality of tunic & pith. In all my years I've seen only one generals tunic I felt was real. Majority of army and navy were put togeather fakes. I'd be interested in either tunic should they become availible & are indeed authentic.

[blinky]

Not to mention the JMSDF used similar tunics early on.

[cbuehler]

Jareth has about said it all when it comes to General/Admiral uniforms. I myself would not accept any without solid provenance.
Most uniforms of these ranks tend to still be in Japan; either remaining in the hands of the families or advanced collectors, and they seldom make the rounds outside of these circles. There are without doubt some original uniforms in the US, but mighty few.

CB

[Bob Hritz]

I bouight the Admirals tunic. It is named to: Minoru Yokota.

He was a submarine recon commander and was at Pearl Harbor, later torpedoed the Satatoga and he is credited with sinking the Juneau, the ship of the 5 Sullivan brothers. He ended up as a Rear Admiral. It is quite nice and I will post photos tomorrow.

Bob Hritz

[Leroy]

Good for you, Bob! I'm really looking forward to seeing the photos!

[Bob Hritz]

Tunic has hook closure front

[Bob Hritz]

Cuff braid for rank

[Bob Hritz]

Collar rank insignia

[Bob Hritz]

Tailor label and name tag.

[Bob Hritz]

This is the Army general tunic named to Kitajima Katzuo. He was the commander of the 1st Artillery Corps who served in the Philippines in March 1942 and bombarded the Bataan peninsula for 7 hours using 241 guns.

After that, he was made commander in Hong Kong and later Commandant of the Takeo Fortress in Formosa (Taiwan). He finished the war on the General Staff in Tokyo.

Bob Hritz

[Bob Hritz]

Collar rank insignia

[Bob Hritz]

Tailor label and name tag.

[Jareth]

Bob, cuff stripes & collar tabs are for rear admiral rank. Purple edges signify engineering. Are they snap on tabs or sewn on?