Japanese Divng Suit

[Troy101]

This is supposed to be a 1938 dated Japanese diving suit. I never saw one before, are they military issue ? Unusual? anybody know what they are worth ?

[Troy101]

closeup

[GHP]

I've asked Nyle Monday to comment. Nyle is very knowledgeable about Japanese civil and military diving and has authored articles about diving, including "Fukuryu: The Crouching Dragons of Japan" Journal of Diving History 61 (2009): 9-17." pdf download [takes time]


--Guy

[GHP]

Nyle Monday Says ....

This is a set of Asari lightweight diving gear. It is not specifically military. The US patent was published in 1939 (no. US 2168695 A) and was, until at least 10 years ago, still in production. It was designed primarily for light ship husbandry work or other shallow water diving. Although it was around during WWII, I have never found any evidence that it was adopted or used by the Imperial Japanese Navy. I wrote an article on it called "ASARI: Lightweight Japanese Diving Gear" which appeared in the Winter 2013 (issue 74) of the Journal of Diving History. It should also be accessible through the Aquatic Commons.

Hope this helps.

Nyle

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[Troy101]

awesome ! thanks for the info !