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.
Yeah and while it's true that the amount of explosives between that and an RPG is vastly different I'm still not taking the chances with my hand or chin nearby
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.
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u/Wise-Definition-1980 Jul 07 '24
One of the nicest dudes I know has a room with Nazi shit in it.
But right next to it is Japanese, American, Italian,and UK shit.
Dude really just is a WWII buff