Japanese Naval Hat

[lonewolf523]

Can anyone help with the translation of the Japanese on this hat? I know it is faded but hope someone can give me an idea. The stamped on I think would be the
size, manufactory, etc.
Thanks

[SHEMP H]

It looks like it was manufactured March 1940 and issued January 1941andI think it is Sasebo depot

[lonewolf523]

Thanks that's more than I knew this morning!

[ghp95134]

The outside is too faded for me to attempt.

Tag:
佐徴空3979

• 佐 = 佐世保 Sasebo
• 山/王 = this is an abbreviation of 徴 using the middle part of the kanji
• 徴 = Draftee
• 空 = Flight. Usually 飛 is used for 飛行兵 Hikouhei (Flight)
• 3979 = His personal number, mated with the previous data will be his Nyuseki Bangou (入籍番号) Entry Registry Number

梶原 茂
Kajiwara Shigeru

十五年一月
Issue Date: Showa 16 [1941], January

(四) ・十五年三月
Size & Manfacture Date: (4) Showa 15 [1940], March

佐世保軍需部
Depot: Sasebo Military Stores Department

-- Guy

[ghp95134]

Here's a VERY helpful link by the late Nick Komiya about how to interpret IJN Personal ID Numbers.

Well worth bookmarking for future reference.

-- Guy

[Akira Komiya]

航空兵 "Koukuhei" was the designation of Navy flyers until the designation was replaced by 飛行兵 "Hikohei" on June 1, 1941, both basically meaning aviation or flying.
I am somewhat puzzled by the insctiptions in the cap's label as there was no such thing as a "Conscript Flyer" in the Imperial Japanese Navy, one had to volunteer to join the flying troops. The only possible explanation is that the owner of the cap was conscripted into a non-flying branch of the Navy and successfully transferred to the flying branch and was still serving his initial term as a recruit, although I have never seen such before. Another first is that I have never seen a size 4 cap before. I always thought that just like the army, naval field caps came in only 3 sizes, size 1 (large) to size 3 (small). However, as far as I can see from the photos, I can find nothing wrong with the cap so they must have come in more sizes than the army caps.

Unlike all other military formations that I know of including the Imperial Japanese Army, in the IJN only pilots and observers (which term also included bombardiers, airgunners, aerial radio operators and aerial photographers but not flight engineers) were classified as a 飛行兵, flyer and groundcrew formed a separate branch, 整備兵, "Seibihei, aircraft maintenance branch. Even the flight engineers on board some of the larger twin engined bombers such as the Betty as well as flying boats belonged to the aircraft maintenace branch and not the flying troops and wore a one piece suit of different design than the normal IJN flight suit.

There were 2 routes for becoming an aviator in the IJN. One was for someone already serving in the Navy to volunteer to transfer to the flying branch as a Pilot Trainee （操縦練習生）or an Observer Trainee (偵察練習生), abbreviated as 操練 (Souren) and 偵練 (Teiren) respectively, after having served some time in the Navy, which was the only option available until 1930.
In such case, their serial number would only change to that of an aviator upon successful completion of the training as an aviator, and those who flunked the aviator's training course would be sent back to their original branch.
Those trying to transfer to the flying troops were said to often have been severely bullied by their superiors, especially when one was serving in the line branch on board a larger ship such as a battleship, so it must have been doubly hellish to have flunked fllight training and be returned to their original branch.
Once one passed flight training and was awarded the aviator's specialty insignia, his term of service (normally 3 years, although there was a time when it was cut short to 2 years during peacetime) was extended by 5 years counting from the date of commencement of the aviation training course. Alumni of such course include Saburo Sakai, the fighter pilot who is famous for his book on his experiences as a IJN fighter pilot titled "Samurai".
This was the only way to become an aviator in the IJN until 1930 but the Navy realized that for aviators as well as certain other specialties such as signalers and passive sonar operators, it was better to start training at an as young an age as possible.
Therefore, the Preliminary Aviation Trainee system 飛行予科練習生, better known in its abbreviated form of 予科練, Yokaren, where boys between the ages of 14 to 20 would volunteer to become Naval aviators was established in late 1929 with the first trainees starting training from June 1, 1930 at 横須賀海軍航空隊, Yokosuka Naval Airstation which was located at what is now Nissan's Oppama Plant.
In this case, because they were volunteers to begin with, their serial number would always indicate their volunteer status.　
Graduates of the Yokaren were promoted at a faster pace than graduates of the Souren/Teiren, which caused significant friction within the Navy as sailors used to put particular emphasis on the 飯の数, Meshi no Kazu, literally, number of meals, i.e., length of service. This was because a graduate of the Yokaren even though younger and with shorter service length could outrank an aviator who originally joined another branch and later transferred to the flying troops. This divide amongst flyers was made even worse when in 1940, the Navy introduced the 甲種飛行予科練習生 Class A Preliminary Aviation Trainee system, often abbreviated as 甲飛（Kouhi）who had a high school graduate equivalent education, with the previous Yokaren Course now being called 乙種飛行予科練習生, Class B Preliminary Fight Trainee, abbreviated as 乙飛 (Otsuhi). Again, graduates of the Kouhi were promoted faster than either the Otsuhi or Souren/Teiren graduates despite having less service length than either.

Graduates of the Yokaren and Souren/Teiren systems despite both being enlisted Naval Aviators initially wore different specialty patches but because of the internal friction caused, the specialty badge for graduates of the Souren/Teiren was abolished on September 17, 1940.
I will attach a photo of the various Naval aviation specialty badges, the one on top is for graduates of the Souren/Teiren, the 2nd, the insignia for graduates of the Yokaren, and the one at the bottom is for those who graduated from the 特修科 (Tokushuuka), Special Training Course.
I know from a table talk among former Betty bomber crews that appeared in a magazine here that those who were trained as lead bombardiers in bombing units received the last insignia but do not know if there were any others eligible for the same insignia.

[ghp95134]

Another great post by Akira-san that should be added to his "Sticky."

-- Guy

[lonewolf523]

Akira, that post was outstanding! Thanks for sharing!!

[lonewolf523]

Here are two I hope better pictures. Was think about trying to take pictures with UV light. What do you think?

[Akira Komiya]

On the top photo, the characters in brown are a series of numbers in both arabic and Chinese characters, (三）(4）三二五六; (3)(4)3256, which I have not the slightest idea what it means. The characters in black below show the word 鹿兒島, which is the older form of 鹿児島, Kagoshima, which could either be a surname or a geographical name, i.e., Kagoshima at the southern tip of Kyushuu in Japan.
I can’t read what is written in black in the second photo although I can make out the character 徳 Toku, no doubt part of another surname.
Then, in brown below is a fraction (the numerals are not clear enough to read but seems to be 1?/103?). I understand these are intended to denote something about the sailor's position and are often seen on Naval garments and pieces of equipment but I have not been able to find out what they exactly mean. Then, there is another name, 堤辰左エ門, Shinzaemon Tsutsumi which does not match that on the interior label so the cap must have been reissued several times.