IJN Petty Officer cap

[Long Shot]

Picked up this very used and faded Petty Officer green cap with a "field promotion" black stripe added to it. Supposedly from Okinawa - it has a character sewn in the back left side and would appreciate someone TRANSLATING it for me. inside marking was an ink stamp but it is far too washed out to read anymore

[ghp95134]

...it has a character sewn in the back left side and would appreciate someone translating it for me...

上
Jō / Ue

What is this line? It might be part of the 上


-- Guy

[adachi]

I think the line you circled with purple is just part of the manufacturing process. You can see it runs along the body of the cap and secures the inner fold of the cap.

[Long Shot]

Thanks Guy and Adachi - interesting! When i look up 上 I get 'above" or "up" - could that be associated with rank or title??

[ghp95134]

Thanks Guy and Adachi - interesting! When i look up 上 I get 'above" or "up" - could that be associated with rank or title??

Yes, it means above/up. It's probably part of a name like Inoue 井上 or Uemura 上村.

-- Guy

p.s. Also pronounced "kami" as in
上山
Kamiyama

[Jareth]

Great cap! Nice character! Like those field promotion caps!

[RussM]

Interesting that the front part of the stripe below the insignia to where the chin straps are sewn on is original machine stitched but the rest of it is replaced and hand stitched. So possibly an original PO cap to start with? Nice used cap anyway!

Regards

Russ

[Long Shot]

Russ actually if you look on the inside near the brim its handsewn there. The band in the front half of the hat has a line of machine stitched sewing in white thread that looks like it was to hem the blue material and from an edge (?) - but ultimately that is still hand sewn to the front. The back "half" doesn't have the fine machine stitching at all but has the handsewn attached sewing as well. They actually stop just before and after the chinstrap pivot point, but don't go under it. I think the owner was just fine to not touch the chinstrap pivots, and based on the other work, he didn't seem to have a lot of stuff to work with either.

This whole thing kind of reminds me of the last IJA soldier who surrendered in the Philippines back in the 1970's. He still managed to patch up his "original" uniform and cap for damn near 30+ years - a sight to see

Overall, just a cool "ghost cap" - these don't show up very often and I was blessed to be at the right place at the right time