Before I start, my name is Sloul (スロウさん), some of you may have seen me at September Victory Show 2025 wearing ARDB uniform with a cap with a Malaysia flag patch, nice to meet you all!
You may wonder why is there a english blog doing in a Japanese blog website, well I did this to offer a perspective of a foreigner, however you want you interpret is up to you.
So where do I start...
I've met PX Joshima online 3-4 years ago, that was around the time when I was looking into starting my JGSDF impression kit/cosplay, at that time I was just accepted into JSDF.US group and there was a guide on where and which equipment to purchase and how to get the details correct, it was also around the time PX Joshima and JSDF.US decided to collaborate to produce high quality reproductions(especially after when JSDF.US managed to obtain something spicy from Ukraine) for members of JSDF.US to be used in Milsim West games. There was another effort by JSDF.US prior to that but that's a story for another day.
I was asking PX Joshima a lot of questions regarding JGSDF equipment and somewhere along the way I found myself involved in helping with the reproductions, starting with the materials procurement, this started as early as 2022. It was countless hours in communicating back and forth with various factories to ensure the quality of the materials are as close to the original as possible(it was hell). Then we got the designs of the equipment, which in my opinion is quite crazy as there are so many design quirks and features compared to Western Equipments. However eventually we got the first products out by late 2024, which are the ARDB chest rigs and the magazine pouches. With the money from sales we used it to make more products even until now. At one point in October or November we decided this: We Must Attend The September Victory Show in 2025.
Hence planning for Victory Show begins as early as December 2024, planning out logistics, accomodation, etc. It was also my first time going to Japan so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. However one thing is certain: The Body Armor must be finished by Victory Show!
As the smaller projects were going on, the materials procurement for body armor was slowly being finished (you have no idea the amount of materials used in that vest), we could only start making a sample for Size 3 and Size 5 by late August(which is why during Victory Show I said to some people this project took 3 years), at the same time we were also making custom made ARDB uniforms for ourselves which is a monumental task on its own. We only managed to finish it quite literally 2 weeks before departing to Japan. Once in Japan there were other challenges.
It's my first time going to Japan, let alone Victory Show so we had to carry our merchandise ourselves from northern Tokyo where we stayed to Hamamatsucho convention hall. We went to the convention hall at 27th to find the 3rd floor was occupied for job applications event, so we had to leave our items at the 4th floor's storage area. The staff told us that we could enter as early as 7:30AM the next day, we did exactly that the next day.
When we got to the covention hall the tables were only being set up, we quickly find our table and brought over our stuff but never did we expect a surprise was waiting for us, it was Chonmage-san himself, thank you so much for your help and guidance!
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(The face of someone in awe upon seeing people that he had known via twitter but never met before)
We got the table set up and changed into our uniforms. It's go time.
Looking at our row it was amazing, there's uniforms, equipments, patches etc being sold side by side. Someone could literally complete a JGSDF impression kit by going through each booth in our row.
Obviously the main attraction of the booth is PX Joshima himself, so it was quite funny to see him discussing with customers and passerby about the equipment (I can't speak Japanese well so that's why you see me call for PX Joshima which actually knows the language). As time passes by some familiar faces show up, and once again I'm in awe because I never thought I get to meet the legends that had put in tremendous effort in this hobby. I hope we get to meet again!
We knew that JGSDF public relations will also be attending Victory Show, and almost at the end of the event we decided to pay them a visit while wearing full equipment(笑). Because I was the only person not wearing face paint so I was allowed to wear the Type 18 body armor vest, it was quite a surreal experience.
After the event finished we packed our stuff and went to eat downstairs with people we met. To think that I got to properly talk with a legendary person over dinner about this hobby was really refreshing. Thank you for sharing your insights with me!
On the way back in the train we also got to talk with another person we met in the event. I may not speak Japanese but I can understand some things that you've said, thank you for sharing your experience with us!
That's the end of this blog for now, thank you everyone for your hard work, I look forward to meet everyone again!