Austin Adachi
@adachi_aus
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Archivist, researcher, and occasional writer. Preserving Japanese military history one photo at a time. 日本語アカウント @4dach1
Nagoya City
Joined May 2021
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My first book: RIKUSENTAI: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japanese Naval Landing Forces 1927-1945
An absolute must have for anyone wanting to learn about the organization and evolution of Japanese Naval Ground Forces.
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For the month of June I uploaded an album of 140+ photos of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF operationing around Chefoo/Yantai, in Shandong, circa 1938
The photos are now public here:
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Always impressed at how timeless some of the IJN's artwork was. This postcard was from 1933!
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The reenactment at the National Museum of the Pacific War is one of the worst things I've ever seen. Even budget Chinese propaganda movies are better than this. I don't see how this circus display provides anything of historical value.
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On rare occasions I digitize non-navy stuff
Khalkhin Gol photo archive coming soon...
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New Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service materials are now live on the Japanese Military Photo Archives!
This is a scrapbook from a reserve flight trainee who served in the homeland air defense of Japan during the final years of WWII.
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The Sihang Warehouse museum is wild for this—straight up propaganda news accounts recreated as if they were real events and baseless ahistorical claims to go with them. There is zero reflection in this place, just presenting the same narrative from 1937 without research.
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A radioman in the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force, photographed sometime around 1939~1940.
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Craziest part is this is only the major vessels. If you included all of the auxiliary vessels and smaller ships/boats the IJN lost you probably wouldn't be able to read the map at that distance anymore.
Japanese WW2 warship losses. Just astounding (and this doesn't even get everything out past the margins).
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I paid a small fortune for a couple hundred unseen photos during the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the Philippines at the beginning of the Pacific War. Luckily they've been carefully preserved unlike most photos I find. Lots of interesting stuff in these snapshots.
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Someone in an English-speaking collectors group was showing off what they thought was a WWII Japanese soldier's good luck flag. Unfortunately it's fake and the signatures are the names of characters from the anime romance comedy "Oregairu" 😂😂😂
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This months digitization project has been going well. An album of ~145 photos of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF in Chefoo, c.1938
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1100+ photos published on the Japanese Military Photo Archives, $30k+ USD spent acquiring and preserving historical materials, and nearly $1000 in contributions from my Patreons
Thank you 2023!
Let's spend even more in 2024!
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Acquired a somber but incredible photo group from a Kaiten (suicide torpedo) crewman. I will have to push this one up in the queue to be published on my website.
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Finished my short write-up on Motorcycles in the Japanese Naval Landing Forces. Provides some good insight on the development of Army motorcycles not covered in English as well. Please give it a read!
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Perhaps my happiest moment in researching so far was finding out this petty officer who loved to carry a sword and pretend he was an officer got promoted to warrant officer in 1944 and was finally able to do what he loved without breaking the regulations
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January 28, 1932
Japanese sailors from the Shanghai Rikusentai and Chinese forces clash at midnight, beginning the Shanghai Incident .
Among the Japanese was an engineer named Nakamura, who took several hundred photos. Today I have made them all public.
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The Imperial Japanese Navy's uniforms really peaked around the mid 1930's.
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A Type 94 tankette and two Kure 3rd SNLF troops outside of Amoy University, circa 1938
There were a handful of armored vehicles and tankettes used by the IJN in Amoy but it's still unclear if they belonged to the 2nd Combined SNLF HQ or subordinate units like the Kure 3rd.
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Two Japanese sailors in the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force with a Type 3 machine gun, circa 1932
The sailor on the left was a member of the landing force's 3rd battalion.
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Mealtime in the heat of battle
Photo shows sailors aboard Izumo off of Shanghai in 1937. Interesting even the sailors on deck had ground uniforms on during the battle.
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The beheading is a famous photo of the 1927 Shanghai Anti-Communist Massacre perpetrated by Chiang Kai-Shek, not the Japanese.
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"I'll just buy a few wartime magazines"
*BOOM* suddenly there's a stack of fifty magazines I need to scan
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The signed flag is what is commonly known as a "Seabee" or "Tojo flag." They are easily identifiable by their strange kanji written by a foreign hand and usually the forged signature of Tojo Hideki. They were made by US servicemen to sell as genuine souvenirs.
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80+ unseen photos released by the Japanese Military Photo Archives today
These photos document operations of the IJN 15th Defense Unit's Shishan Detachment on Northern Hainan Island in 1940
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During the Pacific War few Japanese servicemen had the luxury to take many photos and bring them home. This sailor on Pohnpei from 1941-43 was certainly an exception! I've almost finished digitizing all of his photos for this months new archive release
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This month I'm releasing some very important photos on the archive. Some of the few surviving photos of the 111th Construction on Tarawa, which fought until near complete annihilation alongside the rest of the naval garrison against US forces in Nov 1943.
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There's even a rare photo of the IJN's naval forces in Manchuria showcased! I've only seen a handful of photos of them.
Incredible graphic rendition of the hidden history of Manchuria, at the Asahi: "Manchukuo was a puppet state set up by Japan - a 'utopia' created by opium."
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Since today is the anniversary of the February 26th Incident, I thought I'd repost this photo. Sailors from Battleship Hiei sent ashore to the guard the Naval Gunnery School on the day of the incident. They are pictured with a Type 93 (left) and Vickers Crossley Armored Car.
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I've been pretty quiet on my english twitter account lately, mostly due to being busy with my second job, but I never stop archiving!
This month's new release: 100 photos from a member of the IJN Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force, circa 1939-1940
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Random fact about the Imperial Japanese Army:
At home their unit signs were written in Kanji (Chinese characters), but in China it wasn't uncommon to see signs written in Hiragana instead. This seems to have been done to prevent Chinese from easily determining unit names.
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@yonggarii_
@ShitpostRock
The quality of education varies a lot here. I live in Nagoya and was flipping through the textbooks for elementary school kids. Surprisingly nothing was omitted, Nanking massacre etc was included.
But in other cases you have schools/textbooks making zero effort to teach it.
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From a naval reservist's photo albums
23 years old in Shanghai 1927 vs 38 years old on Hainan Island in 1942
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I'm writing a monograph on the Battle of Shanghai (1937), not out of interest but rather pure spite for how bad the English works on the subject are. Look forward to its release in 2035.
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Japanese sailors from the auxillary gunboat Shuri-maru with their American counterparts, China, circa 1939.
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"The Japanese military never properly implemented submachine guns!"
Rikusentai: 🤨?
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Happy New Year!
2022 was a fantastic year in terms of archival. Over 600 unseen photos spanning from Shanghai to Tarawa digitized and released on the Japanese Naval Landing Forces Digital Library. Here's just a few of my favorites. 2023 will only get better!
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Since McDonald's Japan is trending I should just remind everyone they've actually inadvertently contributed the most to the archival of WWII Japanese photos out of any company in the past year (because I deliver their food in my spare time to fund my archive 😂😂😂)
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These videos are such an interesting insight into the view of history in mainland China. The video's emphasis on the Battles of Sihang Warehouse and Taierzhuang shows that even 85+ years later legend often matters more than true important battles.
They make crap like this and proceed to visit Japan for their summer vacation
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After years of searching I finally found an album of the IJN's Provisional Naval Defense Unit in Manchuria! This unit existed from 1933-38 and only had a small number of sailors in it, so there's not many surviving photos.
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While doing some research I came across the identity of a rather well known pic of an LMG gunner shown in Osprey's infamously inaccurate SNLF book. His name was Tamura Junichi. Tamura served in the Shanghai SNLF in 1937, not 1935, and was KIA around Canton Road on Aug 16, 1937.
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A private in the Imperial Japanese Army Independent Garrison 6th Infantry Battalion stationed in Anshan, Manchuria, circa 1934-45.
Note the experimental soft cap he wears. This was one of the designs tested in the mid 1930's while the IJA looked to replace their visor caps.
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One nice thing about wartime Japanese military magazines: naval landing forces get an exceptional amount of coverage
I'm guessing the navy would've complained if they didn't get as much coverage as the army
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Today's photo from the Japanese Military Photo Archives:
Seaman 1st Class Inoue Takeji armed with a Type 11 light machine gun stands outside of the Yokosuka 1st Special Naval Landing Force's Headquarters in Chefoo, Shandong, circa 1939
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The true details about the Battle for Sihang Warehouse are not quite as spectacular as the legend but even LtCdr Haji Kitaro who led the capture of the warehouse couldn't help but express his admiration for the defenders upon seeing them raise their national colors in defiance
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There are many photos of Japanese war crimes, but this infamous photo of an impaled baby is not one of them.
It is a staged photo that appears in the 1984 movie "Hong Kong 1941" (等待黎明).
Posting fake photos fuels history denialists, so it's best to do your research.
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Japanese-Brazilian collector Yoshinaga who dedicates his time and money to returning "spoils of war from fallen Japanese soldiers." However looking at the photo there are a number of easily identifiable fake items, most notably the flag and ammo pouches.
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A newly arrived seaman 1st class armed with a Type 11 LMG attached to the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force, June 1937. Note the spare ammunition bags slung over each shoulder, each carrying a box of 150 rounds on clips.
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I have needed this book for my research for so long...
Finally getting it in my hands is such a relief.
Sasebo 4th SNLF in Shanghai 1937. Probably one of the most interesting SNLF units in the 1937-38 period.
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Sailors of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF around Chefoo in Northern China, c.1939
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Many say the Imperial Japanese military overlooked submachine guns. But the navy at least didn't!
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Daily reminder that nobody could find a Japanese record stating the IJA 3rd Division was at Sihang Warehouse or the names of the supposed 200+ KIA aside from a single officer.
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Did somebody say Sumida?
Probably one of my favorite Japanese armored cars. As seen here the flag insignias were reduced in size later in the 1930's.
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With enough money you can monopolize history. When writing my book I approached many collectors who had rare photos of lesser known rikusentai units or their equipment. None of them would let me use them even with compensation, for them the value is in nobody else seeing them.
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After countless hours of sorting, scanning, and researching individuals in photos, its here! IJN Correspondent Mashita Hiroshi's "South Pacific Service Record", a collection of 130+ photographs capturing life in New Guinea during occupation by the Japanese Navy.
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It's not often you acquire a group of albums belonging to an officer who was on Guadalcanal—and lived no less!
He appears to have spent 1927-30 in the Shanghai Rikusentai and was later in the Shanghai SNLF from 1937-39 manning AA guns.
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Almost every photo of Japanese troops riding a motorcycle is labelled as a "Type 97", often erroneously. Japanese troops also used imported Harley Davidson, Indian, Type 93, Type 95, and a small number of other domestically produced models. Shown here is a Rikuo 1200CC around 33.
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One of the albums I'm most honored to digitize this year. This album came from a graduate of the 13th Reserve Flight Officer course. The album records the dire situation at the end of the war, with many of his classmates leaving for one way kamikaze missions.
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Bad news for fans of the movie "The Eight Hundred". It was not an entire IJA division attacking the Sihang Warehouse, it was actually a reinforced SNLF battalion (of reservists no less) and they suffered 42 wounded and ZERO KIA while capturing the building.
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Type 11 LMG gunner in the Kure 3rd SNLF stationed in Amoy, circa 1938
Probably one of the nicest posed photos I've come across so far
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Once again the world renowned "BANZAI" military history group on Facebook in action. Everything I post can be freely reposted for non-commercial purposes, but for God's sake at least don't mislabel my Navy photos as Army while you don't even bother to credit me.
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A photo of the the IJN Landing Force "Yagasaki Unit" at a captured position in front of burning Kowloon during the Battle of Hong Kong, December 1941.
Yagasaki Unit refers to the supply unit in the Canton Area Special Base Force led by Supply W.O. Yagasaki Tonoe
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Some of the IJN officers who's albums I acquired and preserved. All were acquired at auctions and would have otherwise never been properly released to the public.
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When you wanted to be an artist but instead you're the combat diary writer in the IJA 68th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion
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Thanks to my new big scanner I can finally scan these big photos from Captain Yamauchi Eiichi's collection. He was one of the IJN's top land warfare experts and the operations staff officer for the Shanghai SNLF during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai.
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August 25, 1942 - the Japanese Navy begins landing SNLF troops in an attempt to take Milne Bay. Miscalculating their landing point by some 10km and encountering an enemy garrison significantly larger than their intel predicted, massive losses are taken before finally withdrawing
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Not only is the suicide jumper story a fabrication, the Japanese invaders are depicted as army troops when it was a navy only operation. To top it off, the army troops which shouldn't be there in the first place are wearing uniforms that didn't come out until a year later!
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An unbelievably rare photo discovery.
Imperial Japanese Navy Type 99 20mm autocannon used in a land-based anti-aircraft role.
Not much info with the photo unfortunately, but it's definitely taken sometime between 1942-45, likely outside of Japan. The gunner is named Sakurai.
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So there's this somewhat infamous guy who wears various WWII Japanese and German uniforms in Asakusa almost every day, with sightings mentioned on Twitter as far back as 2022. I just found an Instagram acct documenting him. Amazing 🤣
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LtCdr Haji Kitaro—CO of the Shanghai SNLF 10th Battalion—and his adjutant Lt Sukegawa Hiromichi, pose in front of the Sihang Warehouse shortly after capturing it, c. Nov 1937
While many English sources say IJA troops took the warehouse, it was in fact Haji's sailors who did so
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A photo I found here in Japan and digitized.
Japanese troops under the 16th Army with Dutch prisoners of war immediately after the fall of Java, 1942.
Really makes you wonder how many of these visual records of Japan's side of the Pacific War are just stored away—forgotten.
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A naval landing force from Gunboat Katata comes to the rescue of a Type 96 (Mitsubishi A5M) Fighter pilot who had to make an emergency landing, April 1938
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This is so cringe, can Japan please stop making these lame "timeslip" war movies?
They seriously have a guy in the trailer saying "the peace we have today was perhaps created by the many kamikaze pilots of the past"
Of course I have to add the uniforms are awful too.
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A portrait taken of a sailor in Shanghai, late 1937. It came from the album of a sailor in the Kure 1st Special Naval Landing Force, appears to be one of the album owner's comrades. He looks quite young, probably taken straight from new recruit training to SNLF.
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A preview of one of the roughly 100 unpublished photos related to the 1st Shanghai Incident scheduled for release on our archives at the end of the month.
A Rikusentai troop with detained civilians outside of the 1st Battalion 2nd Company 3rd Platoon's temporary HQ, 1932
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Battle of Shanghai
August 23, 1937
At around 3AM three steamships carrying the Yokosuka 1st SNLF moored off the Wusong Railway Pier north of Shanghai and began their assault. After three hours of heavy fighting they had secured a landing point for incoming the IJA forces.
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This why I have trust issues
>Passage says IJA 9th Division crossed Suzhou Creek on October 29 1937
"Hmmm that's weird, primary sources don't say that date. Let's check their sources"
>Source says it's the 9th Div's operational records
>Locate said records, does not say 29th...
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An enlisted man and petty officer in the IJN 5th Defense Unit based on Hainan Island show off their infantry weapons.
They have the typical Type 38 rifle, Type 14 pistol, and Type 11 light machine gun, as well as an imported Steyr-Solothurn S1-100 submachine gun.
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I've seen this famous photo of General Yamashita surrendering in the Philippines countless times but just realized the IJN is present in the photo too. Vice Admiral Okochi Denshichi is in the background on the right, he commanded the 3rd Southern Expeditionary Fleet at the time.
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Japanese Army troops briefly resting beside a creek during the Malaya Campaign, 1941-42. Part of the group of photos I'm currently digitizing.
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IJA vs IJN flags:
The IJA had strict rules for regimental flags—each a centered rising sun with a fringed outline and carefully accounted for. The IJN on the other hand treated flags for infantry as expendable pieces of equipment. They were offset and lacked the fringed outline.
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A photo of a cheerful Japanese Navy Pilot I found in a box filled with various old photos. "Oka Special Attack Corps Leader - SubLt. Hirano" is written on the back.
With Oka referring to the "MXY-7 Ohka" human missile aircraft, I can only assume the worst for his eventual fate.
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Japanese transport troops with pith helmets and their tunics removed to withstand the warm weather take a brief rest beside their trucks during the Malayan Campaign, likely photographed near the Thai border, 1941-42.
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Seaman Katsuya and Engineer Kano show off their skating skills at the Provisional IJN Defense Unit's ice rink in Harbin, circa 1935
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Haven't properly digitized this album yet but thought I'd share a couple photos.
A group shot at the Naval Gunnery School in Yokosuka before deploying to Shanghai taken on February 9, 1932, and a month later in Hongkew Park after the fighting had largely concluded.
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August 23, 1937 - Troops of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF carried by three steamships conduct an opposed landing south of Woosung to support the arrival of IJA reinforcements. Although suffering a number of casualties including ~30 men lost, the mission proves to be a success.
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Interestingly this album shows the SNLF around Chefoo did not operate alone. Local forces appear collaborating with them in a number of the photos.
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Japanese Navy fanboat around Nanchang, circa 1940-1941. These fanboats were used quite a bit around the Yangtze River.
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Today I was blocked by someone for explaining that Rikusentai are in fact part of the Japanese Navy and not the Army. Apparently this was a fabrication on my part as they explained "the navy only operates on the sea" before subsequently blocking me 😂
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One of the most iconic Japanese naval landing force photos showing them with a Vickers Crossley armored car. Although often described as the Shanghai Rikusentai, it's actually Yokosuka Naval Gunnery School trainees in the mid 1930's.
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A Vickers 6-ton tank abandoned by the Chinese sits on the creekside of Qimei Road, Shanghai. On the evening of August 19, 1937 it joined Chinese troops in an attack against the naval landing forces but got stuck due to the driver's error. Apparently the crew escaped.
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Imperial Japanese Army Seacraft Troops (���軍��舶兵), circa 1944
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This conscript was discharged from the Shanghai SNLF in early 1937 but was called back in September following the outbreak of war with China.
In the first pic he has a navy helmet, but since they ran out while arming reinforcements, he wears an army type 90 in the second.
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Commander Yasuda Yoshitatsu, head of the Shanghai SNLF's Eastern Task Force, directs his troops from the rooftop of their headquarters during the Battle of Shanghai, c. August-September 1937
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One of the few photos of Kaigun Tokubetsu Keisatsutai (Navy Special Police, often referred to as Tokkeitai). They're often described as the IJN equivalent of Kempeitai, but their organization was much smaller and actually only in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies.
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A KNIL Overvalwagen armored vehicle captured by the airborne Yokosuka 3rd SNLF "Fukumi Unit" in 1942. Most likely photographed shortly after their assault on Kupang, Timor, in February 1942.
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