Hasegawa Shoutai began as a group of like-minded reenactors based in Southern California and Japan. Since then, we have evolved to take on primary research, translation, academic writing, and help guide the ever growing Imperial Japanese Reenacting community. While we have a reputation as gate-keepers and stitch counters, we appreciate those who put the effort into accurately portraying the average Japanese soldier in the empire and have a desire to understand its history beyond Western perspectives.
This site acts as a semi-archive to post our most popular research projects like our Wearing Guide and Vendor Lists as well as more academic related projects, such as book reviews, small scale primary source research, or niche topics that we feel require more space than a simple Facebook or Instagram post would allow. We also post our most recent events here if you would like to join us for tacticals or a living history event!
One of the most daunting tasks of portraying a Japanese soldier is actually wearing the uniform correctly. As such, we crafted this guide based on archival research, veteran interviews, and pictoral assistance in order to help anyone interested the proper structure and fitment.
After wearing the uniform, purchasing the correct equipment is the next most important step for any reenactor. Our motto is “buy once, cry once” and we hope that our vendor list can help individuals avoid purchasing poor quality reproductions.
We are always looking for new articles, posts, and information to share on all of our platforms. If you have an interest in contributing to our website please submit your work for consideration via the link below. Please format any article in CMOS and keep book reviews to around 500 words.
