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Why the Square Spade is so rare in Japan

It appears that these shovels might be much easier to find in Russia than in Japan.

Wartime Downgrading of Type 98 Shovel Specs

Supply of bullet-proof steel gradually became critical as the war progressed. As we have already seen, Type 98 production already had to shift to...

Origins of the hole in the blade, appearing from the Model 1908 shovel, to allow a hemp rope sling to pass through has now been traced back to a proposal from 1896.

No locking pins or such, but when too loose and the head fell off, you just twisted the shovel's head round the handle so the rope wound up till it held the head and shaft tightly together in a...

Russ, thanks for the photos. Can you give us the overall metric weight of the Type 98, as that is the most important measure? The detailed length measurements are extremely difficult and confusing to...

Please do upload marking photos here that can serve as permanent reference to other collectors in the future, but one-off, self-serving, questions like "Is this real ?" or discussions should be made...

Here's also the earlier configuration from my files. He doesn't know the 1913 rules about sandwiching the shovel's shaft and stem between the coat and shelter half, because this is from a book...

With the coming of the Type 99 backpacks late in 1939, the Type 98 shovel could no longer be held securely enough to the side of the pack. Thus from 1940, the shovel would have shifted to the top of...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Note on Reproductions

By far, the most popular reproductions I know of are ones sold by Nakata for only 4800 Yen (40 Euros). Both the 1917 model as well as the 1938 model come with the cloth...

The Making of a Shovel

The Type 98 shovel in my possession features a manufacturer’s logo of an elephant. This brand mark has long been known as the Golden Elephant, a trademark registered in 1897...

1937-1938: Development of the Type 98 Entrenching Tool


Entrenching tools used to be low-tech items that did not see much evolutionary development, but that changed with the China Incident of...

1908-1937: The Interim Years' Developments


In July of 1908, Arisaka, once again, addressed the Army Minister, requesting permission to switch the specification of the hemp cloth used on all the...

1905-1908: Aftermath of the Victory over Russia

The unexpected feat of winning the Russo-Japanese War made a big splash in the world, eventually even leading to a Canadian township being named...

1898-1904: Shovel Improvements after the Sino-Japanese War and into the Russo-Japanese War


As of 16th April 1898, three different handle lengths were introduced for the engineer’s shovel, which...

1888: Introduction of the “Round Spoon” model for engineers


The IJA shovel for WW2 was actually a descendant of what used to be issued to army engineers, so we also need to follow the...

The Evolution of the IJA Infantryman’s Entrenching Tool: 1887-1945






Let’s get the Nomenclature Straight

Western style shovels were a novelty to the Japanese in the 19th century, so...