Reminds me of this navy swim cap in my collection
Reminds me of this navy swim cap in my collection
Just In Case You Didn't Know...
星川by Jareth
Hoshikawa
--Guy
Further to post 27 of this thread, here is the 1939, Year of the Hare feature from a photographic weekly.
By the fall of 1940, the need for rabbit fur for flight and winter uniforms became more serious and breeding rabbits at home and at school became a national drive. This article from 18th September 1940 even mentions that "On 16th September, the first Military Rabbit Consecration Ceremony was held to comfort the spirits of the cute little creatures that dedicated their short lives to the nation". This "rabbit spirit soothing ceremony" was officially called a Gunto-Sai 軍兎祭. The rabbits needed to be harvested at 8 months of age as food and fur for military use, so this exaggerated national ceremony must have been seen as a necessary gimmick not to make the breeding experience a traumatic one for children.
Even in the 50s I had to care for rabbits at my Kindergarten, which gives me a shudder now, but I shudder even more to learn that Yoko Ono and Ryuichi Sakamoto were both my seniors at that establishment.
A notice to military rabbit collectors
Notice:"Gunto" is the common spelling for military sword, but it must be pronounced "Guntoh" to be a sword.
If you say "Gunto" you are referring to "military rabbits".
Just to add to Nick's lesson:
軍兎
ぐんと
Gunto
Military rabbit
To is the Chinese reading [on-yomi; ie: "sound reading"] of the kanji 兎 -- the native Japanese word for rabbit is usagi. In compound-kanji, the On-yomi is often used.
The extended vowel kills me! And probably most Americans. My ear is still not adapted to the sound unless (1) it is verbally enunced, or (2) I know better from studying ... but I often forget.
軍刀
ぐん とう
Guntoh
Guntou
Guntoo
Guntō
Each of the Romanizations are correct; I generally avoid the double-o because to Americans, it sounds like "oo".
Osaka, if written as Oosaka, would be read most often by we Gaijin as "ew-saka" !!
大 阪
おお さか
Oosaka/Ōsaka
More troubling are words similar to kite [key-tay]; those with "extended vowels" are virtually undetectable by me:
聞いて
きいて
kiite -- listen
来て
きて
kite -- come
着て
きて
kite -- wear
There are millions* of similar minefields to negotiate in the Japanese language.
--Guy
*unscientific survey ... me!
Version 3 Tropical Flight Suit Program, as Kicked off in China
In post 28, I mentioned that prototype tests of a tropical flight suit, provisionally called Version 3 started in August 1941, but now I have located the earliest records of this model within theatre self-supply reports.
This Version 3 prototype study was actually kicked off in May 1939 with 50 prototype sets completed on 20th May by Lt. General Yoshio Hongo’s 4th Air Brigade based in China.
Their problem was that the new Type 97 Light Bomber (Ann) adopted in June 1938 had improved somewhat in reducing cabin chill in comparison to the Type 93, but it totally ignored cabin heat buildup in the pilot’s seat. The canopy was provided with a slide-open function to aid the rear crew in bombing, strafing and aerial photography, thus making it possible to vent heat, but the canopy around the pilot had no means of ventilation, which got aggravated by the heatwave from the engine in front.
Even as early in the year as April, a flight under a clear sky built up enough heat to give the pilot heatstroke, and pilots often had to strip down naked in the cockpit to cool off.
They explained that existing Version 2 suits were generally suitable for operations in warm climates like Southern China, but simply could not cope with peak heat situations.
Their prototype used cheap cotton produced in China, and despite being a handwritten, field-made document, their prototype documentation covered all minute specification details for mass production, down to the stitch count for the seams that is critical for seam strength.
As the sketches below show, this was a short jacket with chest pockets on both sides and large slits under the armpits that were double the size of tropical jackets, which came with a button-down flap to close.
It would still take some years until arriving at its final form, but it would have been worth that wait, if the only alternative was flying naked.
Last edited by Nick Komiya; 09-07-2021 at 11:30 PM.
Radio Headsets for Flight Helmets
Read this for details on flight helmet radio headsets.
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