why do Japanese?

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Tanaka
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why do Japanese?

Post by Tanaka »

I've been asked to write this because i do get asked it quite alot so its not just a shameless bit of self promotion :wink: so heres a brief history of japanese reenacting in this country :D .


The Japanese re-enactment Association was formed at the beginning of 2005 originally with the aim of doing a living history display based around a forward machine gun post but it wasn’t long before it became clear that this wasn’t really going to be possible; 1. Due to the fact that there was really only me doing the display and 2. It didn’t allow me to really display most of the items I had acquired, so after the first show we really changed the display to be more of an equipment display rather than a living history one, but we kept the machine gun bunker and the tent as the public seemed to enjoy seeing them.

Why do Japanese? Well I only really started reading up about the Pacific war in early 2004, up until then I had no interest in anything to do with the far East or the Pacific campaigns, I was very much more interested in the European conflict, but after I started reading about the Japanese military one day I soon realised this was much more interesting to me than what had happened in Europe. So as I read more and more I found myself becoming more and more fascinated with the Japanese military and Japan in general really, I must admit the Japanese way of life and there basic ideals of honour, respect and loyalty do appeal to me very much, and very quickly the interest soon grew into a desire to start collecting Japanese military items and as I looked more deeply I found there was quite a lot of reproduction items available so an idea of putting a complete uniform together started to seem more and more easy to do until in the end I put in an order to get myself a uniform and the various items that go with it. I was then put in touch with a group of guys who do a USMC impression and a couple of months later I was doing my first show as a Japanese infantrymen with them, I went on to do 2 more shows in 2004 with them and after the season had finished I decided to try and put together my own dedicated Japanese display for 2005. The only major thing stopping us was finding PLI but luckily Jon Whitehouse offered us the chance to join WARS and after that there was nothing stopping us. 2005 was our first season and we did 5 shows, all of which went well without any trouble from the public which was a great surprise as we knew we were doing something a bit risky by displaying as the Japanese but so far not a single problem has occurred, even when meeting British veterans who were POW’s of the Japanese during the war. Will 2006 be the year for trouble, I don’t know, we shall just have to wait and find out.
The only disappointment we have had so far is in the lack of interest in others joining and doing Japanese, but then this is hardly surprising as we are the only dedicated Japanese display in Europe, and one of only a couple outside of the US or Japan itself, but we knew it wasn’t going to be that popular in this country, otherwise there would probably have been a Japanese group before we came along. What I do find funny though is that despite there being a much smaller market for Japanese repro equipment the cost is so much less than most other repro equipment, but the quality remains just as high, its perfectly possible to put together a good Japanese infantryman impression for as little as £650, and £300 of that is a rifle, but you do have to have a strong interest to still spend that much and unfortunately there just isn’t it over here, o well.
What does the future hold, dunno really, we shall have to wait and see, it would be nice to get some more members, even just to take the pressure off me abit but I won’t hold my breath. If you see us around this year do come up and say hello, because we get lonely when nobody talks to us :D :D

any other questions do please ask :D :D :D

cheers
tutburytim
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Post by tutburytim »

Dont want to do it meself but really admire what you have achieved . Plenty of dedication thats for sure and hope it takes off for you. If it dont, chill, you still got something to be proud of with what you have done so far.
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Tanaka
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Post by Tanaka »

cheers for that mate :D :D
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Alex
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Post by Alex »

I think this deserves to go on the 'main' site. can you suggest some pictures to go with it?
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Tanaka
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Post by Tanaka »

yeah Alex if you want to use it you can mate. There are some photos of the display in the gallery section mate that you could use, otherwise let me know.
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jdeleur
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Post by jdeleur »

You've got a new "Doshi" here on the subject !
Looking for T30 bayonet info.
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Ryuji
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Recommended Reading...

Post by Ryuji »

Hi Ryan, just wondered is you had a recommended reading list for new recruits... :)
Last edited by Ryuji on Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jdeleur
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Post by jdeleur »

What do you wanna know?
But you can start reading some of Ryans articels 8)
Looking for T30 bayonet info.
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Ryuji
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Post by Ryuji »

Lol, read em already. I just wondered if there any real 'must read' books that I may not have come across yet really, nothing specific.
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Tanaka
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Post by Tanaka »

soem good books out there, for kit you should read Mike Hewitts book ''Uniforms and Equipment of the imperial Japanese army in WW2''

for general overview of the Japanese army in WW2 look for ''Fighting techniques of a Japanese infantryman 1941-1945'' by Leo J. Daugherty

and if you can find a copy a great book is ''Tales by Japanese soldiers'' by kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley, a book of fascinating first hand accounts by Japanese soldiers fighting in Burma.

that should get you started mate
JRA site http://www.japanesereenacting.co.uk/

New Japanese reenactors forum

http://s13.invisionfree.com/IJA_Reenacting/

''i think the phrase ryhmes with clucking bell''
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Ryuji
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Post by Ryuji »

Thanks for that, another trip to Amazon then....
Rosselsprung
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Post by Rosselsprung »

Osprey have a few good ones too...just read one on the IJA and IJN
paras, good info on a little known unit

Career of late war japanese para
1. join elite unit.Hai!
2. as war isnt going well volunteer for one way mission.origato!
3.crash land in transport onto airfield.rush out and blow up all planes in the vicinity
4.get tracked down and slaughtered
5.short glorious career ends.see you at the war heroes shrine!

Serious fellas! best not messed with.
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Re: why do Japanese?

Post by Freebooter »

Hello,
I live in Alabama, USA and was in reenacting in the past, mainly US Civil War in the 1980s and early '90s, then with a Waffen SS unit for a short time in the mid 1990s. But I am 53 now and out of shape and have a horrible work schedule so have given up any hope of reenacting again. Forgive me for asking probably an ignorant question, but do Caucasions portray Japanese or is Japanese reenacting restricted to people of Japanese or oriental descent? That would look odd to me, to see some big, brawny white boy in a Japanese uniform and outfit.

Anyway, I too think Japanese WWII history is very interesting as is their military and their gear, havinb recently gotten into as you did, spending my life studying the European theater. I too am planning on putting together a display, slowly aquiring some repro stuff to do it. I want to get some maniquins and have them dressed up representing the major participants in WWII: Germany, Russia, British commonwealth, the U.S. and Italy. So far I have rifles from Germany, Russian, and Japan. I have a repro Japanese helmet with net, infantrymen's belt rig w/ammo pouches and bayonet (Original). I want to get more but can't find a good repro Japanese canteen. Anyone know where I can find one? And I have given up on finding any uniforms of any kind to fit me (I am 6'1" and weight 320), but I will still get uniforms for my displays. I also have a repro German helmet and belt and bayonet so far (DAK). I have cartridge pouches for my Russian impression. Slowly but surely I will collect enough to creat my soldier outfittings. It is a very interesting hobby and a lot of fun. I drank several beers last night at a friends and we watched "Kelly's Heros". He also collects like I do and he wore his M43 cap and I my German helmet. Then when I left I drove all the way home, several miles away, wearing my helmet. I reckon folks thought I was cracked when they saw me. Who cares, I was having a blast.
Later,
Freebooter
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Pirkka
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Re: why do Japanese?

Post by Pirkka »

[quote="Freebooter"]Hello,
<snip>
...But I am 53 now and out of shape and have a horrible work schedule so have given up any hope of reenacting again. Forgive me for asking probably an ignorant question, but do Caucasions portray Japanese or is Japanese reenacting restricted to people of Japanese or oriental descent? That would look odd to me, to see some big, brawny white boy in a Japanese uniform and outfit. <snip>

I look at it this way - if you're not taking part in a battle, it doesn't really matter what you look like, you are only the living mannequin that showcases the uniform and chats with the general public. OK, it might look a bit incongruous (sp?) at first, but if your impression is good enough, you can get the audience to 'buy-in' to it, and they look past the lack of epicanthic fold and wrong skin-tone and see the reality of the Japanese footsoldier you're portraying. Some will scoff, but you can't please everyone and as the Poles say, there's no medicine for being an arsehole.

Although I look not the least bit wartime-era Finnish, the above is what I go for when I re-enact and at the Chalke Valley event it seemed to work. My .01 quid anyway.
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Hirate Sakimori
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Re: why do Japanese?

Post by Hirate Sakimori »

Ah excellent Mr Tanaka thank you very much for the original post.

I loved learning about the History of Japanese re-enactment in the UK.

I was quite surprised to learn it was such a relatively new wave or as we say back in Hokkaido Hokusai! :D . I hope to hear more for future. Best of luck to you and all fellow Japanese Re-enactors.
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