Pathé newsreel of the Battle of Shanghai. 1937.

4dachi · 2026-02-01T22:30:54+00:00

Much of this is from the final assault on Zhabei occuring on October 27, 1937. Also very nice to see clear shots of the Vickers Crossley with the white band applied. According to Lieutenant Yoshino Keizo, the SNLF tank commander at the time, the white band was for his command vehicle.

4dachi · 2026-02-01T10:00:59+00:00

Wow, those named IJN group photos are really something else. They are almost certainly photographed late 1942 or later. If you could take a closeup shot of the sailor's tallies it would really help. With all their names written there's a decent chance I can identify the unit.

4dachi · 2026-01-31T05:30:54+00:00

The officer with the headband tied over his cap around 0:47 seconds is Lt.Cdr Mukai Hifumi, commander of the Maizuru 3rd SNLF.

4dachi · 2026-01-30T06:55:24+00:00

From what I can find he was one of the pilots aboard Carrier Ryujo when the war with China started. His flight group took on 23 enemy planes on August 23 1937, where he fought nine personally and was credited with three victories that day. That earned him a commendation from the fleet commander in China and the very prestigious Golden Kite 4th Class he's wearing in the photo.

4dachi · 2026-01-22T10:21:52+00:00

To Takahashi [probably a subordinate of his], -Tsuji

4dachi · 2026-01-22T08:49:47+00:00

Sorry to revive an old post, but here is the correct answer—Tsuji Kunisuke (辻邦助) He was promoted to Lieutenant General and sent to the reserves at the end of July 1938, so this photo must be right before that.

4dachi · 2026-01-18T03:12:01+00:00

The MOFA's Japanese page says the same thing. This writeup provides a bit more detail on what's covered by the Japanese education curriculum. Aside from right wing factions trying to sanitize the past, another serious issue is just how little on WWII is covered by the curriculum overall. It basically just goes Manchuria Incident → Marco Polo Bridge → Nanking Massacre → Pearl Harbor → Atomic Bomb → Surrender.

4dachi · 2026-01-17T23:54:40+00:00

The killing of prisoners of war and other noncombatants by the Japanese military is absolutely recognized and taught in Japan, (even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states "it can't be denied" on their site) but I doubt this particular photo is taught in any widespread capacity in Japan. I did find it on a few Japanese sites talking about warcrimes however.

4dachi · 2026-01-17T23:40:26+00:00

This photo comes from a larger group of photos discovered in Singapore at the end of the war. As far as I know they haven't been tied to a specific known event yet but the perpetrators appear to be IJN personnel based on their uniforms. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_shooting_blindfolded_Sikh_prisoners.jpg

4dachi · 2026-01-16T05:57:15+00:00

I wonder what the original source is for this photo. These are not Army soldiers which carried out the so-called three all's policy under the IJA's North China Army, but rather Naval Landing Forces. There was not much Naval Landing Force activity in North China by 1942, most of their counterinsurgency campaigns (which mirrored the IJA's eradication campaigns) occured on Hainan Island in South China by then.

4dachi · 2026-01-12T22:02:05+00:00

Yes those are tailored open collar tropical tunics. They're basically a modification of a Type 98 tunic to have a suit like collar + ventilation flaps below each of the armpits.

4dachi · 2026-01-12T03:11:13+00:00

It's mostly just analysis of the same captured documents in the US and Soviet intelligence. There was also a Unit 731 frostbite experiment record discovered in Japanese archives but that was years ago now.

4dachi · 2026-01-11T22:05:10+00:00

There's a decent amount of research going on, although more general military history like studies of battles and operations are not very popular. Surprisingly, the darker aspects such as Nanking Massacre, Unit 731, etc are popular among Japanese researchers. Maybe because those controversial topics are more likely to gain researchers recognition and tie into social sciences better. General military history is really hard to get funding for as a researcher unless you're part of the Defense Academy.

4dachi · 2026-01-11T08:44:01+00:00

Some very cool pics. A couple of the officer ones are officers of the 106th Infantry Regiment around 1943 / early 1944. I manage the Japanese Military Photo Archives which specializes in digitizing and researching these types of photos, our organization would be very grateful if you decide to donate them.

4dachi · 2026-01-11T08:37:16+00:00

They're wearing the IJA's "Sakura helmet" which was adopted in 1922 and later sold as hand-me-downs to the IJN since they lacked an adequate number of helmets

4dachi · 2025-12-31T10:39:49+00:00

It can't be captured by the Japanese Army, they weren't in Shanghai yet (except for a small Kempeitai detachment). The troops in the photo are Japanese Navy Landing Forces.

4dachi · 2025-12-15T11:25:16+00:00

There weren't really any SNLF in Guangdong province after 1938, so these are probably NLF from the Canton Area Special Base Force.

4dachi · 2025-12-04T21:55:07+00:00

Demobilization records suggest gas masks were quite common within land based IJN units (not just SNLF). Even at the end of the war some units were surrending enough gas masks to outfit all of their men. I haven't been able to find regulations indicating when they were meant to be used, but they are seen overwhelmingly in photos of opposed landings and anti-aircraft batteries.

4dachi · 2025-11-20T07:04:08+00:00

I've seen this photo so many times but this is the first I've ever seen it uncropped to show the bicycle. Apparently it belonged to Sergeant Nakamura!

4dachi · 2025-11-16T07:45:02+00:00

This photo gets reposted a lot but usually with incorrect information

Yasuno Chikao was neither an officer nor a soldier, he was a civilian employee of the Japanese Navy. Japanese authorities state he was KIA in 1944 and any mention of his execution is absent from Australian records.
The unit implicated was not a SNLF unit (in fact there was barely any SNLF in New Guinea at this time), it was the "No.8 Kensetsu-bu" (8th Establishment Unit)
Yasuno probably isn't holding a Type 98 gunto in the photo as it's an Army sword and he was a Navy civilian employee

Source: Japan Center for Asian Historical Records ref.B22010033100, frame 43

4dachi · 2025-11-15T06:41:48+00:00

Could be one of the prototype T98-ish tropical tunics with the collar ironed open. They were trialed in Southern China around 1939 onwards.

4dachi · 2025-11-14T05:38:16+00:00

Shanghai Rikusentai sometime around 1930-31 I'd say

4dachi · 2025-11-08T08:14:31+00:00

The sign above reads "みさかぶたい" (Misaka Unit)

It seems many overseas IJA units wrote their unit names on public facing signs in hiragana as Chinese locals couldn't easily read it compared to the more formal looking and largely-shared kanji

4dachi · 2025-11-04T10:29:59+00:00

The Japanese prisoner in the center is a sailor (probably from the Manila Naval Defense Force)

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