WWII Japanese, German Style Civic Helmet

[bbmilitaria]

Hello all, here's a neat one. WWII Japanese, German style civic helmet. Cast alloy metal with a very simple web liner. I haven't been able to find any information regarding the use of this style of helmet. Any help is always appreciated. Thank you for looking, Mike.

[Tinhat]

Nice, I missed picking up one of these a few years ago and regret it now. Japanese civil defense helmets make a good collection on their own.

Steve.

[Neil Hever]

Never saw that kind before. Is it perhaps a Chinese shell repurposed? They had the Stahlhelm in China. NH

[Type4]

It was civil defence in aluminium or in press wood too was make in japan not china war booty.

[ghp95134]

正金
Shōkin

It could have been used in the vicinity of a bank:
正金銀行 【Shōkin】 (n) specie bank

"Specie" is an archaeic word meaning gold and silver coin. If you look up in English "Specie Bank" you get lots of hits to the Yokohama Specie Bank.

-- Guy

[MAP]

If I remember correctly someone posted something similar in the last year. Couldn't find it.

Nice pickup

[bbmilitaria]

Thank you for the help everyone. The translation is very interesting with the bank connection. I wish it could speak. I appreciate everyone taking the time to look and comment. Mike

[Geoff Ward]

Very Nice!!! Here are a few pics of one of mine. It is made of a lightweight type of fiber. Similer style but not quite as much of a German style profile.

Regards,Geoff

[Nick Komiya]

Unlike in Germany, where helmets were officially issued by the police, civil defense, fire brigade, etc, thus tying a certain design to a certain organization, air-raid helmets in Japan was a completely commercial product you just bought off the shelf at department stores.

As I explained in this thread, various commercial designs were already available as early as 1938, when they officially put helmets under price control. The Home Ministry, responsible for police and fire brigade, had an established quality rating scale depending on the level of protection they offered. Their "class 1" rating practically meant steel helmets with steel thickness of 1.2mm or more and weighing 920 grams or more, and these were accorded the highest prices. This was followed by steel and molded fiber hybrid helmets weighing 600 grams or more. But for less than half the price of such Home Ministry certified products, you could buy them in wood, bamboo, paper mache, etc to suit your budget.

As the war progressed, steel would become reserved for military use and aluminum and other alloy helmets became more common. The German M35-like designs are typical from this middle phase of the war when they still had ample access to aluminum.

The only officially issued paramilitary helmet in Japan was for the Japanese counterpart of the Luftschutz established in 1939 as an auxiliary to the police and fire brigade. The official excuse to issue them helmets as explained in August 1941 was to "give them protection from antiaircraft gun shrapnel that would rain down on them". These helmets were established on paper immediately before the war with the USA broke out, so what was actually issued under wartime restrictions seldom reflected what had been originally intended.