Many of the Army's Uniform items were governed by the Army Uniform Code, and could not be just launched by the authority of the Army through Ordinances. I suppose it is helpful to show collectors what kind of rigid processes and protocols were involved in introducing a uniform item. As there are many Gunto enthusiasts on this forum, here is an example from 14th February 1934 about swords. Page 1 is Hirohito's signature of approval with the emperor's seal underneath, followed by signatures of the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Army. Then come the spec details and often drawings. To get to this stage, there are some years worth of memos about prototypes tests, etc all of which I read to give you the kind of insider's stories that I write. I will not translate any of this, as I only wanted to give you a visual understanding of the degree of attention any changes in the Emperor's Army got from the Emperor himself.
First two pages
First two pages
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