ArmchairSamurai
ACCESS: Confidential
- Joined
- 1 July 2019
- Messages
- 168
- Reaction score
- 224
Hello all.
Since I am on an unknown kick, I figure I would share this with you too, a diagram of an unknown Japanese chemical suit:
I found this on the following link: https://picclick.com/WWII-JAPANESE-ARMY-BODY-SUIT-FOR-POISON-GAS-113008074757.html
The sad thing is this single, low-quality, thumbnail is all that is left from an eBay sale, which included the actual chemical suit, who knows how long ago. The description from the link says it all:
"I acquired this from the estate sale of a WW2 veteran who served in the Pacific . He brought back a trunk full of items and this was one of them. A very rare and unusual item. A protective suit to cover the body and back pack/gear of a Japanese soldier presumably from a Poison Gas attack or some other type of Chemical warfare. I took photos of all stamps and markings. It is in remarkable condition , I doubt it had ever been put to use. The ties that were knotted had to be undone very slowly. I did not want to repackage this to the way that it was for possibly damaging the bag that stores it. I'll leave that to whoever gets this. I had a very hard time researching this, it must be a rare piece. If anybody out there has any information on this item that they would like to share it would be most appreciated. It really belongs in some sort of Museum or Archive. It measures approximately 42" tall by 50" wide."
Some time ago, when I found this archived page on picclick, I contacted the seller and inquired if he still had the photos from the sale, somewhere, or if anything else, just a photo of the suit itself when he bought it. My goal was to at least see the actual suit, but alas, while the seller was happy to oblige, he never got back to me after agreeing to search.
What do you all think? I cannot translate the kanji, so the name could be on the picture for all I know. I personally see this as more of a late-war project for the invasion of Japan, issued to the home army, one, given the imagery but also given the seller's description of its origin. My reasoning is that given the stockpiles of chemical weapons, like on Ōkunoshima, among many, many other weapons/equipment exclusively saved for the homeland's defense, these suits would be included... if Japan resorted to unleashing chemical weapons against the US in sheer desperation. But since nothing came of it, such weapons/equipment went unused and were scrapped, or like the chemical weapons on Ōkunoshima, disposed of. This suit would then be something of a surplus item, or in the case of GI's occupying Japan, something to take home as a souvenir. In addition, this suit differs wildly compared to those used by Japan in China throughout the 30s, and is definitely not a decontamination suit; although I will admit, this suit could just as well be older than I anticipate for the same reasons I pointed out, but nonetheless, I am open to discussion.
Thoughts?
Since I am on an unknown kick, I figure I would share this with you too, a diagram of an unknown Japanese chemical suit:
I found this on the following link: https://picclick.com/WWII-JAPANESE-ARMY-BODY-SUIT-FOR-POISON-GAS-113008074757.html
The sad thing is this single, low-quality, thumbnail is all that is left from an eBay sale, which included the actual chemical suit, who knows how long ago. The description from the link says it all:
"I acquired this from the estate sale of a WW2 veteran who served in the Pacific . He brought back a trunk full of items and this was one of them. A very rare and unusual item. A protective suit to cover the body and back pack/gear of a Japanese soldier presumably from a Poison Gas attack or some other type of Chemical warfare. I took photos of all stamps and markings. It is in remarkable condition , I doubt it had ever been put to use. The ties that were knotted had to be undone very slowly. I did not want to repackage this to the way that it was for possibly damaging the bag that stores it. I'll leave that to whoever gets this. I had a very hard time researching this, it must be a rare piece. If anybody out there has any information on this item that they would like to share it would be most appreciated. It really belongs in some sort of Museum or Archive. It measures approximately 42" tall by 50" wide."
Some time ago, when I found this archived page on picclick, I contacted the seller and inquired if he still had the photos from the sale, somewhere, or if anything else, just a photo of the suit itself when he bought it. My goal was to at least see the actual suit, but alas, while the seller was happy to oblige, he never got back to me after agreeing to search.
What do you all think? I cannot translate the kanji, so the name could be on the picture for all I know. I personally see this as more of a late-war project for the invasion of Japan, issued to the home army, one, given the imagery but also given the seller's description of its origin. My reasoning is that given the stockpiles of chemical weapons, like on Ōkunoshima, among many, many other weapons/equipment exclusively saved for the homeland's defense, these suits would be included... if Japan resorted to unleashing chemical weapons against the US in sheer desperation. But since nothing came of it, such weapons/equipment went unused and were scrapped, or like the chemical weapons on Ōkunoshima, disposed of. This suit would then be something of a surplus item, or in the case of GI's occupying Japan, something to take home as a souvenir. In addition, this suit differs wildly compared to those used by Japan in China throughout the 30s, and is definitely not a decontamination suit; although I will admit, this suit could just as well be older than I anticipate for the same reasons I pointed out, but nonetheless, I am open to discussion.
Thoughts?
