Reenactor ～004～

Hello.
We have received photos and videos from Mr. J in the U.S. depicting a reenactment of the Imperial Japanese Army at the “World War Two Weekend” event held at the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania, and we are pleased to share them with you.

About this reenactment group

Founded in 2021, Hattori Han is a historical reenacting unit comprised of military history enthusiasts, collectors, & historians from diverse backgrounds.

We specialize in representing the armed forces of the Empire of Japan from the 2nd Sino-Japanese War to the Pacific Theater of World War II.  We dedicate our passion & efforts in authentically portraying an often overlooked & misinterpreted perspective of World War II through mediums such as living history displays, public or private tactical demonstrations, & social media.

In the future we hope to grow our numbers and provide readily available information and reproductions.

Regimental color guard

We ran a regimental color guard, rifle squad, and type 92 heavy machine gun squad.

It was a joint venture with our sister unit, kita buntai (北分隊) based out of Canada.

However if anyone from international communities would like to participate we can provide local transportation if they fly in and their impressions match our authenticity standards.

Rifle squad

Type 92 heavy machine gun squad

Scenes from the battle

Thank you for your hard work！

Finally, please watch the video of the regimental color guard march.

What Are Regiment Flag Guards?
In the Japanese military of that era, “Regiment Flag Guards” (or “Military Flag Guards”) were specially selected elite soldiers tasked with guarding the military flag—the soul of the regiment, personally bestowed by the Emperor—for both infantry and cavalry regiments. Under the supervision of the Guard Commander, the military flag was kept at the regiment headquarters, where the guards maintained strict vigilance day and night.
The Importance and Duties of the Regiment Flag Guard
● Guarding the Emperor’s Embodiment
The regimental flag was regarded as the embodiment of the Emperor and served as the symbol of the regiment. The guards tasked with protecting it were selected from non-commissioned officers and soldiers of exceptional physical and mental caliber.
● Absolute Defense
When a regiment was annihilated or destroyed in battle, the regimental flag was ceremonially burned by the regimental commander to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The regimental flag guards bore the heavy responsibility of defending the flag until the very last moment. (Never let go of the flag, even in death.)
●Special Salute
In the presence of the regimental flag guard, even officers were required to perform the “sasagetsutsu捧げ銃” salute—the same salute given to the Emperor—toward the regimental flag.

From their words, it’s clear how much time and effort they put into their activities, and how much they care about what they do.

I hope I can support them, even if only in a small way.

That’s all for today.

See you next time.

Reenactor ～003～

Hello.
I have some exciting news to share with you today.
A group known as the Hattori-han, which primarily reenacts the Japanese Army and Navy in the United States, has won an award in the YouTube Reenactment category.

Best&Most Authentic 

WWⅡ Reenactment Photos of 2025

Golden grenade

”These guys are representing Japanese naval pilots on December 7, 1941 and this photo was taken at the USS Alabama drill event. I'm sure a lot of work went into tracking down all the items for this impression. It's hard with those less represented things to get all the gear you need cause less people are buying it which means less people are reproducing it cause there's less than man so I'm sure this wasn't an easy impression.”

”Golden grenade, and the golden grenade goes to this photo of two Japanese pilots. I probably could've given this to any of the aromatic impressions. I mean I know those kids are extremely expensive to put together, but since these guys are also representing a foreign country and that's a more niche impression I'm assuming that many of the items they're wearing are expensive and hard to come by so I wanted to recognize them for putting this together and now we are on our final golden.”

I applaud their efforts. I believe it is about understanding history and having the ability to express it.

Their journey is long. They spend years studying, working hard, continuously seeking better authenticity, and putting their hearts into reenactment.

It takes money to gather the necessary equipment. There will surely be failures along the way. It also requires the ability to recognize what is genuine and appropriate.

And even if someone can buy the equipment with money, reenactment will not succeed without the knowledge and sincerity needed to truly portray it.

Reenactment is one of the ways to convey history, and it should never be treated lightly. When reenactment is done well, it can communicate history to many people.

That's all for today.

See you again!

※About ordering※

We manufacture the flight helmets, oxygen masks, receivers, etc. shown in the blog. Please contact us for production orders, film-related orders, etc. 

ry.oide@nifty.com

IJA Life Vest (W-Type)

Hello.
Today, I would like to introduce the W-type life vest used by the Imperial Japanese Army.

Army troops waiting to board transport ships.
While it is well known that the Navy had the Rikusen-tai（陸戦隊）, it is surprisingly less known that the Army had its own troop ships, famously called the Akatsuki Unit（暁部隊）.

Ship Command and the Akatsuki Unit were the Army organizations that commanded and controlled the transport of troops, supplies, and other materials by ship during wartime, was commonly known as the “Akatsuki Unit” from the unit designation character “暁” (Akatsuki) assigned to each unit.

The Japanese Army, which had long held a strong interest in amphibious warfare, put landing craft (small motor boats (Shōhatsu) and large motor boats (Daihatsu)) into practical use in the 1920s. Furthermore, in the 1930s, it developed special ships serving as landing ships (such as the Shinshū Maru and Akitsu Maru). These demonstrated their effectiveness and played an active role in various amphibious assaults during the First Shanghai Incident and the China Incident (Sino-Japanese War). At the time, only a portion of the engineers (referred to as “Ship Engineers” or “Landing Engineers”) operated these naval weapons in actual combat. However, as the Pacific War (Greater East Asia War) intensified, they became an independent branch of service as Ship Troops in 1943 (the branch classification itself had been abolished in 1940). Not all Army units operating ships became part of the Ship Troops; some continued as engineers.

In the latter stages of the Pacific War, to instill pride in the personnel of the Ship Troops alongside the Air Troops, the Ship Badge was established on May 9, 1944. Its design featured an anchor, chain, and star emblem on a dark blue base. All officers and enlisted personnel belonging to ship-related units wore it on the right chest of their uniforms.

Early Emblem

Now, let's take a look at the W-type life vest.

Original

This life vest was primarily worn by ship's crew and troops embarking for amphibious assaults.

Now, please take a look at the one we produced this time.

Since the life vest's flat pattern included a sketch of the pouch, we also recreated the pouch.

Additionally, we made a cap for ship's crew soldiers.

Please also view the video.

特幹船舶兵｜時代｜NHKアーカイブス

Until next time.

※About ordering※

We manufacture the flight helmets, oxygen masks, receivers, etc. shown in the blog. Please contact us for production orders, film-related orders, etc. 

ry.oide@nifty.com

HACHIMAKI

How are you all doing?
Today, I'd like to introduce you to the Japanese HACHIMAKI.

A “HACHIMAKI” (鉢巻) is a long, narrow cloth or cord worn on the head, primarily in Japan, to aid in mental focus and boost fighting spirit. The term literally means “head bowl wrap.”

From the mid-Kamakura period onward, samurai wore HACHIMAKI during combat. 
They fastened the HACHIMAKI over their eboshi cap(烏帽子) and then placed their helmet(兜-Kabuto) on top. This helped stabilize the helmet's crown.
 

Both the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy wore HACHIMAKI during wartime.

Hachimaki were not issued by the government; they were given directly to troops by superiors or others.
Others were made by female students who drew the Hinomaru with blood.

The material was silk or cotton.

Hideo Oishi, departing for the Chongqing Bombing—a large-scale air raid repeatedly conducted from December 1938 to September 1941 during the Sino-Japanese War.

He was a member of a medium land-based attack squadron, wearing a HACHIMAKI featuring the warship flag (Rising Sun flag) distributed to boost morale.

Upon close inspection, the Hachimaki he wears has a red cloth base.

reproduction

This one has a white cloth base.

For Japanese people, the HACHIMAKI is something they particularly want to wear when they want to get pumped up or unite as one.

Typically, it is wrapped directly around the head, with the flight helmet worn over it.

As they headed toward special attacks, photographs of them wearing the Hachimaki became more frequent.
 

Some included favorite phrases.

That's all for today.

Until next time.

※About ordering※

We manufacture the flight helmets, oxygen masks, receivers, etc. shown in the blog. Please contact us for production orders, film-related orders, etc. 

ry.oide@nifty.com

Reenactor ～002～

Hello. 
Today, we received reenactment photos from Mr. Z.W. in the UK, which we are pleased to share. 

These photos were taken at an event held recently at Military Odyssey in Maidstone, Kent, UK.  

Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Corps Pilot

This scarf is inspired by the Fuyou Unit.

芙蓉の花  Cotton rose hibiscus

The “ Fuyou Unit ” was the common name for a unit formed in January 1945 when the 901st Fighter Squadron, 812th Fighter Squadron, and 804th Fighter Squadron—night fighter units belonging to the Combined Fleet—were reassembled at Fujieda Naval Air Base (present-day JASDF Shizuhama Air Base). Its official designation was the 131st Air Group

Crew members assigned to the Fuyou Unit wore light pink scarves, the color of the Cotton rose hibiscus flower.

芙蓉部隊 指揮官　美濃部 正 少佐

Fuyou Unit Commander  Major Tadashi Minobe

Major Minobe named it thus because Mount Fuji was clearly visible from Fujieda Base (now Japan Air Self-Defense Force Shizuhama Base) in Shizuhama Village, Shida District, Shizuoka Prefecture (present-day Yaizu City), which served as the unit's base.

He is often portrayed as having resisted the military high command's policy of all-out special attacks and refused to carry them out. However, there are differing accounts regarding the reality of his actions. He devised various special attack operations, instructed units under his command in their training even before the formation of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps, and actually ordered sorties for special attacks.

Minobe, then 29 years old, commanded approximately 1,000 personnel.

At a Navy meeting in late February 1945 at Kisarazu Base, where the decision for special attacks in the Okinawa campaign was finalized, he argued before the assembled senior officers that sending inexperienced pilots on successive suicide missions offered no chance of victory. He contended that rigorous training followed by night attacks would be more effective.

"None of our young pilots fear death. But mere empty slogans about mental fortitude alone cannot inspire them to stand up with true courage. If we must die, I ask that you provide us with a method that offers a reasonable chance of success."
(Minobe Tadashi, “A Taisho Child's Account of the Pacific War”)
 

According to Major Minobe's memoirs, their training was three times as rigorous as that of the special attack units.
Military officers inspected this demanding training regimen.
Furthermore, their reconnaissance efforts in gathering information on American forces were recognized. Consequently, an unusual change was made: the unit was excluded from the special attack squadron formation.

Fuyou Unit officers just before advancing to Kanoya Air Base. Center front is Minobe; to Minobe's left is Captain Masashi Tokura, flight leader of Combat Squadron 812; to his right is Captain Eiichi Kawabata, flight leader of Combat Squadron 804. Photographed at Fujieda Air Base on March 30, 1945.

The first contingent of the Fuyo Unit assembled at Kanoya Air Base to serve in the Battle of Okinawa. The person in the center of the second row from the front, wearing no hat and an American flight jacket, is Minobe. The photograph was taken on either April 1 or 4, 1945. The leather flight jacket he wears was given to him by an American POW in the Solomon Islands.

The exhibition booth displays equipment he collected and fighter aircraft outer panels.

The writing on the blackboard was completed after being rewritten many times.

Flight computer

Also on display are felt receivers, flight helmets, and Aerial Battle Models (wooden).

Aerial Battle Model（wooden）
●A6M

●Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Fighter aircraft outer panels

Window sock

Memo board and comfort doll

Japanese Army and Navy reenactors operating in the UK 

He is currently the only IJAN pilot reenactor in the UK.
We talked about many things, so I know the effort he puts into his reenactments. That made me feel like I was building the base alongside him, which was really enjoyable.
His passion for reenactment, driven by a desire to convey something, truly warms my heart.

Thank you for sharing these great photos.

That's all for today.

See you soon.

※About ordering※

We manufacture the flight helmets, oxygen masks, receivers, etc. shown in the blog. Please contact us for production orders, film-related orders, etc. 

ry.oide@nifty.com