interesting photo

**SHEMP H** · 08-17-2019, 10:17 PM

by adachi

He's not an officer, he's a Petty Officer 1st Class. The sword is a personal sword, non-military issue brought with him. Not totally convinced it's Shanghai either, this would have to be after 1940 based on the uniform.

On another note, when the NLF invaded Christmas Island in 1942 the Punjabi troops under British Command and Sikh police officers had already mutinied, so the NLF were able to walk right in after an initial shelling.

Note the Tabi, I'd like to find a nice pair!

**DaveR** · 08-17-2019, 11:59 PM

What you are looking for are "jika tabi".

**SHEMP H** · 08-18-2019, 12:36 AM

by DaveR

What you are looking for are "jika tabi".

Is there a difference between tabi and jika tabi?

**ghp95134** · 08-18-2019, 03:20 AM

Tabi are “low quarters” and made of cotton. Jika tabi come to mid-calf, are heavier cloth, and have a heavy rubber sole. Still worn today by gardeners and construction workers.

**Jareth** · 08-18-2019, 03:55 AM

Paul do you own those photos? One looks like mine

**DaveR** · 08-18-2019, 11:32 AM

Jika Tabi were issued to men in the IJA and the IJN, and were seen to be so useful that the US forces issued "plimsolls" aka "sneakers" in imitation.
You can get modern jika tabi online from martial art outlets, though they might call them Ninja-Tabi or boots. They come in different heights as well.
Ealiest photo I have seen for jika tabi was from the 1900's on a Rickshaw-Man, so they had been around a while by WW2.

**paul kennedy** · 08-18-2019, 11:32 AM

Yes. I bought them from at auction from a seller in Hawaii. There were more pictures that I didn't win.

**Jareth** · 08-19-2019, 01:46 AM

Here's my photo & ink stamp on reverse

**Anderson** · 08-19-2019, 02:07 AM

Interesting photos. I have some similar ones from Shanghai in the 1920's taken by my grandfather who was based there while serving on a British gunboat. Shanghai at the time had an International sector and a Chinese sector that by the 1930's the Japanese had taken over. The International sector Police did had a large contingent of Indian Sikhs, as seen in some of these photos. The borders of the Japanese and International sector were guarded and there was a level of co-operation between Japanese and international forces at the border posts.