Guide: Authenticity Standards – Battle for Manila 1945
This event was planned around a force-on-force tactical. Due to COVID-19 in 2020, the event was canceled but we decided to share some of the research that went into the planning side of this event. The chosen scenario focused on the action between the American Army 1/145 Battalion and the Japanese Army (IJA) 2nd (Nouchi) Provisional Infantry Battalion from 19-21 February in the vicinity of the Ice/Cold Storage Plant. The depth of research of the event allowed us to place units down to the platoon to a given space during the battle, which was relatively unheard of.
Review: Planning for Empire: Reform Bureaucrats and the Japanese Wartime State by Janis Mimura
Janis Mimura’s first monograph Planning Empire: Reform Bureaucrats and the Japanese Wartime State represents a welcome intervention in the English language historiography of Imperial Japan that provides a more nuanced interpretation of wartime and immediate post-war Japan.
Article: Basic Japanese Squad Tactics
Article Basic Japanese Infantry Tactics Robert Boucher Contributor Japanese Army (IJA) tactics are often reduced incorrectly to fanatical banzai charges and clumsy, wasteful attacks. While fanantical last-ditch assaults certainly existed in the later stages of the war, where quality officers and non-commissioned officer (NCO) cadre had evaporated due to sustained losses, this was not always […]
Review: East Asia and the First World War by Frank Jacob
Robert Boucher Editor Review: East Asia and the First World War, by Frank Jacob At a glance “Overall, despite the flaws, East Asia and the First World War offers a decent introduction to the historiography of the period. As with any work of such a breadth, there will always be specialists nitpicks or room for […]
How To: Japanese Army Wearing Guide
Pictoral Guide on how to wear an Imperial Japanese Army uniform!
Resources: Primary Source Guide
Primary Resarch guide of various documents, pictoral archvies, and contemporary history that can be useful for a variety of reenacting related information.
How To: IJA Shelter Half “Pack” Assembly
Like most IJA gear, assembling the shelter half “pack” is not terribly difficult but does take practice to get it looking the best and also remaining effective for field use (nothing worse than assembly failures in the field).
Uniforms: Japanese Army Subsitute Winter Jerkin
A brief look at the Meiji and Taisho winter Jerkin models.
Resources: Japanese Imperial to Western Calendar
Resources Imperial to Western Calendar Meiji (明治) Taisho (大正) Showa (昭和) Japanese Era Name Western Calender Japanese Era Name Western Calender Japanese Era Name Western Calender -Keio (慶応)4.Sep.4Meiji (明治)1.Sep.4- 1868 -Meiji 45.Jul.30Taisho (大正)1.Jul.30- 1912 -Taisho 15.Dec.26Showa (昭和)1.Dec.26- 1926 Meiji 2 1869 Taisho 2 1913 Showa 2 1927 Meiji 3 1870 Taisho 3 1914 Showa 3 […]
Guide: Japanese Army Puttee Comparison
Introductory guide to Japanese Army Puttee coloration and usage as well as viable reproduction models