The Chrysanthemum and the Helmet

[Nick Komiya]

It is written that it was a helmet worn by the Chinese 19th Route Army that fought the Japanese during the 1932 Shanghai Incident and was war booty donated to a museum or display by two Japanese gentlemen. There were many such displays set up at department stores, etc after that incident in the 30s, so it must have been used in such an event.

There were 4 pieces of Type 90 helmets supplied as samples to Chiang Kai-shek in Nanking in the Spring of 1930, but these were in normal steel, not in the special alloy developed for the Type 90, as explained in post 23 of the steel helmet thread. These helmets were part of the weapons export program inspired by Nambu of Nambu 14 fame, and managed by the Taihei Association as discussed in post 31 of the helmet thread.

There was also a letter from Kobe Steel dated 15th April 1931, seeking the Army Minister's approval on exporting two helmet samples to China as commissioned to Kobe Steel by the Osaka arsenal. These were not described as Type 90s, so it is very possible they were custom designs for the Chinese Army, as the army would not let them export real Type 90s anyway.

The Osaka mint also actively made coins for foreign nations in the 30s to build up its foreign currency reserves and naturally those were in designs specified by the customer nation. Just as those coins were not regarded as Japanese coins, custom export version helmets do not make them Japanese helmets although they may have been manufactured in Japan.

China was badly behind in such things as helmets and gas masks, so they had to import from Japan or Germany. But while Germany may have let them have real M35 helmets, China was too close to home for the Japanese to give out the latest in military technology. So the latest IJA gear was never for export, but Japanese industry and the Taihei Association were crafty business people, so they would have whipped up something to keep the Chinese happy.

Anyway Chinese items are not my area, so I will defer to Chinese collectors and researchers as well as to your usual creative speculations for the Chinese side of the story.

I am now closing this thread, as this thread has strayed too far from its theme. Please open a separate thread if you wish to discuss Chinese items.

[Nick Komiya]

Closing