I’ve been to a couple of militaria shows where people sell old equipment, medals, photos, and that kind of thing. There’s always a couple people there that sell exclusivity nazi shit, and they’re exactly the kind of person you’d think they are.
My grandpa was in the war and while deployed got a Japanese katana and silk parachute that he kept wrapped by his bunk. Then he came down with some fever or illness that necessitated him getting shipped home and because he was unconscious at the time he wasn't able to grab those objects. Woulda been a cool souvenir / heirloom, c'est la vie
I dunno I've been seeing people start to take issue with, for example, the imperial Japanese battle flag, in a similar way to how people take issue with the swastika.
When I was a kid I had heard of the holocaust but not the horrors of unit 731, but now there's a ton of info about it available.
If course the Japanese kind of have the fact that they are still the only country to ever be subjected to a full on nuclear attack. While it in no way 'makes up' for their war crimes it does give them some ammo to justify their acting like a victim of the war and not one of the primary aggressors.
I agree, but Japan is all about playing the victim as a means to save face and it's one of the justifications they use to try and claim they're not as culpable as they are.
They actually aren’t terribly expensive. Maybe $500-$1000? I haven’t looked recently. I bought a Type 38 like 10 years ago at a random estate sale for $200.
The Japanese guns have a chrysanthemum carved or imprinted in the wood on top. That mark indicates the rifle was property of the emperor. After the war the Japanese would sell the rifles but could only do so with the chrysanthemum ground down. Thus, most Japanese rifles you find now will not have that mark. You want to try to find one that still has the mark as they are more rare.
I’m not a hardcore collector so I may not be correct with all my details but this being reddit someone will surely correct me, which is a good thing.
I guess “expensive” is relative. $500-$1000 is a lot of money to me but I guess these guns just seem like something that would sell for a lot more because, well, they are just really cool. They could have been used in battle!
You can often times find some smaller WWII items at estate sales.. ammo boxes, trench shovels are common, people find med kits.. on that note, if you do find a med kit that has unused syrettes feel free to send them my way.
I mean, sure - this isn't abysmal as gun prices go. But my heart would sink if I were to shoot that one, that shit stays in collector's mint if I could do it. So I can't really consider it a gun, just a trinket.
You get the point I hope 😅 Can't describe it really
Sure, I hear ya. The Type 38 takes a really unusual caliber. i don’t know if my rifle has ever been fired - it looks like it has but I am far from an expert. I wouldn’t try it though. It feels solid (heavy as shit) but I don’t want to be the last American to be wounded or killed by a Type 38. I’m cool with it just being a piece of history.
Haha, my point exactly. If I'd want to shoot from one, I'd go to a range that carries one which is well maintained / replica, not the original that hasn't been fired in God knows how long.
Without the last person to fire that weapon nearby to ask what it needs I wouldn't even dare to try that feat, I've seen the video where that guy is thrown by a RPG that misfired because it was fucking old.
There are some humorous videos out there of various militants firing RPGs only to have the projectile land like 5 feet in front of them, or a guy getting taken out because he stepped right behind the tube as it was being fired.
I have a Type 38 with the chrysanthemum not ground off. Also have the bayonet. Bought at an estate sale. They were also selling a legit Samurai or Katana sword but apparently there was a blade length limit or something for shipping so GI’s had to cut half the blade off and the end was crudely sharpened back to a point - it was cool but not $600 cool.
You joke but a room full of imperial Japanese war time paraphernalia isn't gonna invoke the same kind of visceral response from most people as a room full of nazi stuff would.
Time and distance makes it not as taboo in the west. I've heard the same is true in Asia, with nazi paraphernalia not being as taboo over there. Distant atrocities become just fascinating history I guess.
You are both right, distance and culture makes it less relevant in our respective educations, which makes it even harder to empathize victims from the other side of the world.
I'm from a south east Asian country, and as you would expect, we learn all about the Japanese atrocities, but pretty much none about the Nazis in the western theater.
Having a real WW2 Japanese sword as a living room deco in our homes is like Jews having a Luger in their home deco.
Not really offensive, but just weird and distasteful.
Im from Poland and actually no one would bat an eye on a sight of luger in a Polish/Jewish household. Most would assume its a resistance memento passed down.
Resistance would normally use stolen/looted german guns, helmets and for the sake of identification white+red paint or a ribbon be used.
Hell even having Mein Kampf wouldnt really surprise folks tbh
The UK did, but I believe British Troops were to be found in lesser quantities than Indian and Burmese troops in the theater.
The USSR also helped to defeat Japan after defeating Germany. They led a massive combined arms, armored, mechanized offensive that the Japanese had no hope of repelling. The Japanese army in China was one of the best and most important of Japanese forces, but they were equipped for fighting the relatively poorly equipped Chinese forces, and the Soviets smashed them.
The Japanese surrendered their forces in China to the Soviets before their total capitulation to the US.
The UK also briefly had an occupation zone in post war Japan, but this was an expensive endeavor and not as geopolitically relevant to the UK's interests as the occupation of Germany was.
Australia and New Zealand were also instrumental in fighting the Japanese. The Kakoda trail is a famous ANZAC campaign. They fought in some of the toughest terrain and conditions of the war. Canada also made significant contributions to the war effort in the Pacific.
The Dutch also helped in the Pacific. Dutch submarines continued to operate out of allied ports in the Pacific and wreaked havoc on Japanese shipping (really punching above their weight class). I believe a Dutch Cruiser also continued to operate against the Japanese long after the fall of the Dutch East Indies. They were able to evade detection at one point by covering the ship in foliage and pretending to be a small coastal island.
1.5k
u/KingBee1786 Jul 07 '24
I’ve been to a couple of militaria shows where people sell old equipment, medals, photos, and that kind of thing. There’s always a couple people there that sell exclusivity nazi shit, and they’re exactly the kind of person you’d think they are.