Imperial Japanese Army Type 90

[Mark K]

" Tetsu-bo " Imperial Japanese type 90 these were first manufactured in 1930 and seen use by Japan until 1945 and are constructed of progressive plate stamped chrome-molybdenum steel they are then blued at the factory and painted in the colour of ochre the size " Kanji sho " ( small ) " Kanji Dai " ( tall ) are then reapplied with white paint on or near the rim on the interior for easy recognition..

They were produced in two sizes with the 1'st examples being manufactured by the Osaka army arsenal,( from 1930-1932 they will be found without the duel ventilation holes as found on the sides of the helmet body ) production was also carried out at by the steel factories at Kobe ( Kobe Seiko ), Daido ( Daido Seiko ) and Nihon ( Nihon Seiko )..

Their weights vary and are dependent on when they were manufactured and size the 1'st examples from 1930-1938 used one millimetre thick steel plate the protection was found to be insufficient though so the thickness of the plate was increased to two millimetre, testing was then conducted on the new helmet bodies and it was then determined that they would stop a 7.7mm projectile having travelled a distance of 500 meters this was found to be acceptable..

The weights shown are only approximate from 1930-1938 , 1180grm's, ( small ) 1200grm's , ( large )... From 1938-1945 the only information I could find in regards to weights was for a large helmet which is 1900'grm's, this particular example being a large.

The liner in the type 90 was modelled after the ones found in it's predecessor the Japanese model 18 and underwent little change it consists of three leather tabs that have for the lack of a better term cloth envelopes sewn on the reverse side which are normally found with straw and or cotton stuffing inserted in them for comfort...

They are then laced together in the centre with a cord to form a cradle type harness that keeps the users head from coming in contact with the dome of the helmet body this of course can be adjusted slightly for depth by loosening and or tightening the draw cord..

With the help of a friend and fellow collector who was kind enough to translate the Japanese as found on the reverse side of the liner tabs to English for me he was able to discern that this particular helmet was at one time used by a soldier whose family name was Fujisawa and that he served with the 1st Cavalry Artillery..

There is a bit of an interesting period anomaly with this type 90 that I will disclose after a bit of time has passed I am curious if anyone else can pick up on it.. 

 

In regards to the tying of the chinstrap on the Type 90 in my opinion this would likely be done in two ways with this particular helmet as shown in the diagram.. ( The 2nd method adopted from 1937-1938 to prevent the helmet from tilting forward by tying the chinstrap behind the neck )...( 4th method the chinstrap was tied directly at the ears when the chinstrap was shortened in order to be tied directly under the chin )

 

 

Regards Mark

[St.Lukas]

Is it an illusion of photo or is rim wavy? 

[Mark K]

20 hours ago, St.Lukas said:

Is it an illusion of photo or is rim wavy? 

St.Lukas it must be an illusion caused by light and or the camera.

 

Regards Mark