Hello, I'm new to the forum. My name is Austin Adachi. Some of you may know me for my new book "RIKUSENTAI". I run the Japanese Naval Landing Forces Historical Preservation Association which conducts research and preservation of materials related to Naval Landing Forces. I'm always looking for more photos to add to the archive, preferably unit photos with some means of identification. If you have any photos or materials you're willing to sell please let me know. With our current records on units and officers we can conduct very in-depth research that few if not any other organizations are capable of.

Today I will share one of the association's holdings, a photo of the Shanghai Naval Landing Force in 1930. It appears to be a single company, perhaps the second, commemorating the guarding of Hankow situated up river. What is exceptional about this photo is that platoon commander Sakaguchi Shigetaro (officer second furthest left) wrote the names of the officers and their positions. At this time the Shanghai Naval Landing Force was not recognized as an official unit and logs of the landing force in 1930 are not known to exist, so this is one of the only pieces of information that allows us to know the positions of some very important officers at that time. Left of brigade commander Shibayama (center) is Yasuda Yoshitatsu, serving as brigade adjutant. In the Pacific War he would command the Yokosuka 5th SNLF and ultimately died in the battle of Buna. To the right of Shibayama is another very important officer, Tsudzuki Teiichi, serving as 1st battalion commander. He held a number of important naval infantry positions and also served in New Guinea, commanding the 85th Guard Unit, which was noted for its participation in the Battle of Finschhafen. Despite managing to survive the brutal conditions on the front lines, after returning to Japan he would not be so lucky and died only about a week before Japan's surrender in an air raid.

Apparently the above photo didn't embed properly, here's hoping this works. Thank you Shemp H. for letting me know about that. I've also included a photo of the same landing force's mortar/angled infantry gun unit.

28 minutes ago, adachi said:

Apparently the above photo didn't embed properly, here's hoping this works. Thank you Shemp H. for letting me know about that. I've also included a photo of the same landing force's mortar/angled infantry gun unit.

No problem