Japanese tank helmet

[wizardman]

While recently in Tokyo, i encountered way more of these than i had expected,but many were damaged..one had what can only be described as, horrendous blood damage..yours is a nice one mate..i was unable to find one with the right amount of wear..for the record,people often think of the pacific war without realizing the amount of Japanese tanks in China

Convoy of Japanese tanks crosses the bridge Japanese tanks of World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MAP]

Interesting photo. These tanks are really small. Wonder if they had a 2 or 3 man crew. Also don't see any tanker helmets in wear.

Michael

[wizardman]

I think this guy has one on

[MAP]

Nice to see one in situ.

Michael

[SteveR]

A very nice, hard to find, piece of Japanese headgear.

[Tinhat]

Yes the story is true. Hundreds were found in a storage building behind a Shinto temple in late 70's. many have storage damage & issues from stacking etc. I have the harder to find winter fur lined variant as well as the variation summer tanker helmet with side goggle strap loops and a boxed set of tanker goggles. Finding an actual named & issued example is the real treasure

Thanks Jareth, as I was digging on the internet for more info about these helmets, I found a link to an old auction for the earlier version you mention with the goggle strap, it said only 5 were known to be in existence, so that is pretty impressive you have one of them.
Steve.

[Tinhat]

Here are a couple more photos

[MAP]

Are they children in the 2nd photo? They look awfully young and small.

[Tinhat]

Are they children in the 2nd photo? They look awfully young and small.

Yes they are, here is the link to the site.
Mount Fuji: Shield of War, Badge of Peace

[ghp95134]

Yes they are, here is the link to the site.
Mount Fuji: Shield of War, Badge of Peace

Here's the quote:

A 1942 issue of the same magazine features the Bantam Tank Troop in a photograph titled “At the Foot of Mount Fuji”; the camera positions Fuji as the crowning touch over this phalanx of boys in outsize uniforms, in front of tanks. The synergy of such pictures goes far beyond what the text explicitly states: although Fuji is invoked as a guardian, at the same time, the images encourage and inspire the boy soldiers to guard and preserve not only this national hallmark, but also the nation as the physical land and political entity nuanced by Fuji. That this deeper message need not be spelled out speaks to the power of Fuji’s iconic status.

Note, that is "Bantam" and not "Bataan."
Bantam, a small variety of poultry, especially chickens.

--Guy