Repro.Japanese gear/uniforms.

[Dennis J]

Good day to all;
Who makes the best WW2 Japanese repros?Please give web site if you can,thanks for any and all help.

Dennis J

[Ryukyutunnelrat]

Nakata Shoten. Unfortunately can't order from website but other sites such as stewarts Military Antiques sells some of his items.

Army:
http://www.nakatashoten.com/contents-japanriku01.html

Navy
http://www.nakatashoten.com/contents-japankai01.html

David.

[Papa Nambu]

Stewart's is the best source for Nakata items in the US. If he doesn't have what you want, I can stop by the Nakata shop in Tokyo in March/April.

[herrgeezer]

I'm just now getting interested in IJ items and this is a cool site to see all the items paired together for branch of service and rank.

[Dennis J]

Nakata Shoten......I just bought one of their hats(or so I was told)and the hat is ok but the size is marked 59 like you would see in a German hat.Is this the way Nakata Shoten mark their hats or do they use the same way as the Japenese did in WW2?

Dennis J

[Ryukyutunnelrat]

Dennis,

Yes, in large black stamped numbers with the largest I have seen as size 61.

[Papa Nambu]

Original hats don't have the metric size stamped in western numbers. That and the the Nakata logo are how you spot these as repros when dishonest and or ignorant people sell them as original on eBay.

[Walter Schmidt]

Most Japanese repro makers stamp "複" (short for 複製=Repro) somewhere to signify "repro"
Here are some smaller scale makers, and they almost always stamp their name in the manufacturer field:
荻原
でくの房
外園 (this guy also stamps the year of actual manufacture but counted from Showa 1 instead of Heisei on most of his stuff)

One genre that is hard to tell is insignia, because they had the same people who made the wartime insignia re-make collar tabs and shoulderboards for movies in the 50's, which are virtually indistinguishable from originals.

[Papa Nambu]

Here's a Nakata repro cap being sold as an original on eBay. You can see the size marking (60), and someone has tried to add some markings to cover or camouflage the Nakata marks. Unfortunately many beginning collectors fall for these. Another thing I've noticed is that when the seller knows it's not original, they sometimes arrange the folds of cloth to hide the markings, or only photograph it in a way they won't be seen.

Nakata products are made as repros, not fakes meant to deceive, so it's not too hard to spot them if you are familiar with them.