I like the Imperial Japanese of WW2, despite all their setbacks

>>3250277
Outside of their naval and air arms they were kiiiiinda shit, anon
that being said, the soko sagyo ki was pretty cool

>>3250277

We live in a world filled with small minds who think that nothing is worth appreciating unless it was "the best." These dullards would have us believe that people such as Richard Nixon and Huey Long should be of no interest because of their flaws, whereas true patricians know that flawed heroes are the most interesting.

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>>3250277
The were pretty aesthetic.

>>3250277
Nah, you're not. I'm currently working up from the Meiji Restoration to the Imperial period, it's fascinating stuff. Hell, the fact that they went from a feudal agrarian society to a world power in such a short time is incredible.

>>3250322
>world power
*pacific power

>>3250326
Well they were important enough to be included in the League of Nations.

>>3250348
So were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hondorus, Italy, Liberia, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Siam, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela. Thats not exactly an achievement.

>>3250364
I want to add that I'm not saying that Japan's achievements in modernizing were unremarkable, I'm just sayin' that they really couldn't be considered a "world power".

They were hilariously backwards and incompetent in many areas (particularly with the IJA), but they are an interesting military, if only because they're so unique compared to the Western powers fighting on both sides.

I find them interesting in the same way that a lot of African conflicts and militaries are interesting - it's neat to see what armies end up doing when they have some critical failure or shortage, be it institutional inexperience or a major cultural issue or arms embargoes and immature industry preventing full modernization.

>>3250380
It does make you wonder how they would have fought if the services would have been cooperative with one another. Wasn't that one of their major shortcomings?

>>3250277
>Yellow star on their helmet and peaked cap.

Secret Nippon socialists?

>>3250395
In the end, it would not have made that much of a difference. There wasn't that much of an overlap between the IJA and the IJN in china. They might have been able to do a bit better in oceania and australia, but no matter how well the cooperate the'd still end up getting absolutely raped once the US entered the war.

Unit 731 did nothing wrong

>>3250348
Well, so was the Republic of China, and it barely even existed due to warlord fun.

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>>3250277
> I find it cool to learn about them, their equipment and designs.
They have the dorkiest uniforms of all the major WWII combatants.

Especially when the glasses eyed noncoms show up.

>>3250426
Why do japanese eyeglasses look so fucking weird compared to western eyeglasses?

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>>3250426
Like seriously.

>>3250395
Probably not all that much better.

The bigger problem the Japanese had was in the area of logistics and equipment.

IJA logistics were hilariously bad. At Khalkhin Gol, the Soviets had a railhead a four day drive away from the battlefield compared with a half-day drive for the IJA. Despite this, the Soviets managed to assemble a significantly larger force of both men and artillery than the IJA, and, more importantly, they conducted barrages that only increased in intensity as the battle went on while the IJA artillery was short on ammunition from the start.

The equipment problem is even worse. At Khalkhin Gol they tried at least twice to put up spotting balloons for their artillery, and their artillery in general was aging and obsolete. Much of it dated to WW1, and pretty much everything they had was outclassed by contemporaries, especially in range. IJA armor was even worse - the only real armored assault they launched - again at Khalkhin Gol - was stopped by a company of riflemen supported by a platoon of armored cars. Anti-tank weapons were inadequate - much of what they did have at the start of the war was either completely inadequate or not available in the numbers needed, and squad-level anti-tank weapons tended to be literally suicidal. Though small arms tend to be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, they also had flaws with those, particularly their machineguns - the Type 11 that was their primary squad-level weapon early on was fed by an exposed pan holding several stripper clips, and their primary heavy machineguns (derived from the French Hotchkiss) were fed by 20-round stripper clips.

And that's not even getting into their aircraft, which is a whole other clusterfuck on its own.

>>3250500
thanks for reminding me that someone thought hopper-fed lmgs/hmgs were a good idea, anon

>>3250403
They actually helped further understanding of modern medicine.

>>3250426
>jap on the left doesn't have his bayonet fixed
fake
>>3250512
kek

>>3250500
Interesting, what would you suggest as far as reading goes about the Imperial Army? Was defense-in-depth the only thing they did right?

>>3250548
>defence-in-depth
They were also very good at guerilla tactics.

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>>3250548
I don't have any good general resources on hand, but
>Nomonhan 1939 by Stuart D. Goldman
>In the Skies of Nomonhan by Dimitar Nedialkov
Are good resources for understanding how much of a shitshow the IJA (particularly the Kwantung Army) was in the years leading up to the greater war in the Pacific.

Goldman's book talks about how IJA artillery and logistics were totally outclassed by that of the Soviets, and it reveals critical failures in areas such as armor and anti-tank weapons.

Nedialkov focuses on the air war, but he brings up things like the IJA's reliance on spotting balloons, the looming obsolescence of the IJA's light bombers and the "state of the art" biplanes flown by both sides (Ki-10, I-15, and I-153). He discusses things like the inadequacy of the IJA's bombing force, part in thanks to a reliance on smaller bombs, which were unable to effectively bombard a dug-in enemy.

Both also bring up how terrible the Japanese military culture was in the long run, as they valued a distorted sense of honor above all else to the point that they were literally throwing the lives of men away. Countless soldiers needlessly lost their lives at Khalkhin Gol for no other reason than retreat was was dishonorable (even if it would have made tactical sense), and in at least one instance, a captured veteran pilot repatriated after hostilities ended was pressured by his peers and superiors into committing suicide. And while losing experienced men for effectively no reason would be bad for anyone, it was particularly damaging to the Japanese, who suffered significant pilot shortages even in 1939 thanks there only being one real (small) training school for pilots.

There's also "Japan 1941" by Eri Hotta, which gives a good understanding of just how toxic Japanese culture was at the time and how it affected the way they waged war and developed policy.

All three of these reveal how little control the Japanese government really had over the IJA.

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>>3250605
Thanks man, you're a good guy, I don't care what the other anon's say about you.

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>>3250434
And then there's this tropical hat of theirs that makes them look like some hipster army.

Like this shit is so dorky, the countries where they did their warcrimes aren't even intimidated of their uniforms. Like I've seen Chinese kids make mock of their getup by putting towelets under baseball caps and running about screaming banzai.

>>3250678
flap caps are my fucking favourite

bonus points if they're bespectacled with round glasses

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>>3250682
Unfortunately not a flap cap, but I just remembered this guy from my World War II reenactment group and thought it might satisfy you.

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>>3250678
The Japs have a history of funny ass hats

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>>3250768

>>3250605
This manga is helpful to understand Japanese military culture. The writer was a soldier then.
https://www.amazon.com/Onward-Towards-Our-Noble-Deaths/dp/1770460411

>>3250768
anime-tier

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>>3250773

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>>3250786

>>3250786
look at that fucking guy, he looks like a fucking pimp

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>>3250803
He's got his battle hat on dawg, course he does.

>>3250768
>guys I have the best idea ever
>what if we go into battle with traffic cones on our heads

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>>3250970

pretty aesthetic desu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRMTF8ChAAQ

>>3251054
this , unfortunately, is a complete fabrication

the IJA did western styled parades like any other army

>>3250803
>He looks like a fucking chimp

ftfy

Because they all were

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I thought the idea of a hopper design to enable continuous fire was cool.

It just didn't work how they intended.

>>3250277
Like many communist states, a great nation brought down by fanatic adherence to a retarded ideology. The Emperor should have intervened instead of letting this madness proceed.

>>3250768
>BRAINZ

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>>3250434
This is a great picture and I got half-way through colourising it

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>>3250403
Fat Man and Little Boy did nothing wrong.

>>3251004
Why do Shimazu and Mori have no sense of style?

>>3251856
I. I can't.

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>>3250768
>So we actually told the Ashigaru that it was badass to wear these stupid yellow cones and they actually did it, those absolute madmen.

Because whitey can't handle stronk yerrow man freeing Asia from his evil clutches

>>3252050
what is the japanese equivalent of "oy vey"?

>>3251299
That's some nice work anon.

>>3252073
probably this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKMw2it8dQY