IJA Boots & Gaiters

[christek]

Greetings all,
These boots are in great condition so I thought it worth a share.
I believe this pattern is the '1939 pattern'. A russet brown leather (almost red) ankle-height boots. They are quite solid and much heavier than they look. The side of the boot is marked with the number '100' which I believe is the Japanese size marking. The leather gaiters are also in excellent condition and I believe them to be period. They are a nice match in colour.
Any help with the kanji characters within the circle on the soles would be much appreciated. In addition I would love to know what the pen markings inside the boots say. Many thanks in advance.
The very best regards to all,

[Nick Komiya]

How did you get the information that this is a 1939 type and how is that supposed to be different from a Showa 5 Type in your opinion? See my post here Two pairs of Japanese WW2 boots, real or fake? Thoughts?
Your's has the same designation as mine, only mine is marked 五年式, and your's uses the nickname 昭五式 (see sun helmet story for this designation).
Also look more closely at my marking explanation. Yours is a size 10 not 100. There is always a decimal point even when the numbers are round. Chiyoda shoes made yours, so their name is in the Arsenal column.

The writing inside says "For use by Ito", so Ito was the owner. The sizing was in "Mon" in those days and 1 Mon was 2.4 cm. So yours is size 24 in current Japan, which is small. Mine are 12 Mon ( 28.8 cm), which is quite big.

[ghp95134]

The boots were the property of a soldier named Itō.

伊藤用
Itō-yō
for Itō; Itō's use
[in our lingo: "Property of Itō"]


--Guy

[Nick Komiya]

It's the other Ito, 伊東

[ghp95134]

It's the other Ito, 伊東

Sheesh! I selected the wrong one .... again! The problem is ... I know better!

Thanks for the correction, Nick!!


--Guy

[Rod]

These lack hobnails so they're popularly referred to as driver's boots in the books, although more broadly for personnel engaged in rear area activities.

I've got a pair with the same date as these, Showa 16. Unissued but the pig skin is suffering from negligent storage (not by me).

Rod

[christek]

How did you get the information that this is a 1939 type and how is that supposed to be different from a Showa 5 Type in your opinion?

As always, many thanks for the info Nick. I believe I have had this miss-information in my head due to a few websites mislabeling them, namely germanmilitaria.com. I appreciate your help on this one.

Thanks for the info Guy & Rod - I appreciate it gentlemen. The very best regards.