I'm writing here to explain how Joshima Type 3 Kai project came to be, and how insane the scale of the project has become and its future. I will not explain the design details of Type 3Kai.
First, back to 2023
I came to know Joshima around that during while hanging out around militaria collecting discord servers, but prior to that I had read through Chonmage-san's blogs and understand what kind of equipment I would need to get in order to do a correct JGSDF impression. It is also around that time I was accepted into JSDF.US group, the group initially started off for Americans to participate in Milswim West however since then people from all around the world have joined the group, including myself from the Asia region.
( In the west, impressionist would be the term used to define someone that is doing a serious cosplay, usually based on something in real life such as military soldiers, medieval knights etc... )
( The term cosplay is more related to anime )
When I joined the group and meeting Joshima, they were in discussion to manufacture military gear, and by absolute sheer timing and luck, in late 2023 they managed to acquire a Type 3 kai vest from Russia, it was from a captured Ukrainian POW. I know, insane right? (The reproduction story of Type 3Kai actually went as far back as 2015 but that's a story for another day)
I personally wasn't involed until sometime later however I still kept an eye on the whole project. Initially the project was assigned to a agent that has connection to various factories. The agent would have to manufacture these unconventional materials for military equipment. (Polyester fabric, Jacquard Camouflage webbing, Anti-slip fabric on the shoulder etc...). In the end the agent failed to meet our requirements and wasted our time for 8 months.
It is then I got involved in this project as I am interested in being part of the "first", and we decided that we would have to procure the materials one by one as only we understand their complexity.
The first item we focused on was the polyester fabric and 25mm webbing tape, we contacted a fabric factory and they managed to copy the colors accurately in two sample trials, however the rear waterproof lining treatment was slightly thinner than the real fabric but we were still satisfied, we did not request for IRR treatment at the time because that wasn't the goal and it is expensive. The webbing factory was more tricky, they couldn't get the tightness and coloring correct, resulting in the initial batch of webbing was too light in colors and too loose, but we got lucky again as the factory recently purchased another better machine and the subsequent batches of webbing were way better, and the webbing material itself is IRR which to us was a pleasant surprise.
So that's all the materials we need to manufacture right? RIGHT?
WRONG
We still need to procure the internal mesh lining, anti-slip fabric (shown below) at the shoulder and various solid color webbing that is part of the internal Quick Release System. At this time we've ran low on funds and had no way to continue this project, this was around Autumn 2024.
Custom made
"So what do we do"
"We have all these materials sitting in wareshouse doing nothing, why not we make smaller products first, and use the money generated from there to fund other materials"
"What products do you think we should start with?"
"We should do ARDB, imagine how hard we would look if we could pull it off"
"Fuck it, we ball"
(This is literally how the conversation went)
And hence that is how the first Joshima product, the ARDB chest rig came to be, and as people that know, more products were made since then.
Alright so fast forward to Summer of 2025, we managed to acquire all of the materials(Anti-slip and mesh fabric are custom manufactured) but unfortunately the factory could only produce sample vests (one size 3 and one size 1) just in time for September Victory Show 2025. Once we were back we immediately went into looking on manufacturing the vests, but since then until now (as of March 2026) we have only managed to make a batch of 14, and they were sold to our good friends and JSDF.US members who's been eagerly waiting for us since 2023. We are not going to sell to the Japanese market unless we have made a whole dedicated batch as we hope everyone in Japan that wants one gets to own one. We are still working towards that goal and I hope everyone please have a little more patience.
As for what's after Type 3Kai, well there's still many things we want to make, because we are a bunch of ambitious gaijin that's too stubborn to give up. (and I hope everyone don't give up hope on us)
If you read this and have questions or comments feel free to let me know in whatever language you are familiar with, and I will answer them (I don't bite)