I heard recently that the reason hachimakis weren’t included as Japanese cosmetic options were for censorship reasons, does anyone know if this was the case? I know recently some people have tried to make a stink over the Rising Sun flag, but most of the traditional hachimakis used during WW2 that I can find don’t even portray the Rising Sun variation but instead the version that is still on the flag of Japan today. There is one iconic example where they the pilot is wearing a hachimaki where the entire headband is just a rising sun flag, but if it was an issue they could simply utilize only the still iconic and more commonly used version.
So does anyone know what the reason for this is? It seems like it should have been an obvious inclusion, being both iconic and containing no fascist imagery or actual offensive material.
Here are some examples of the hachimaki worn during WW2. I don’t speak or read Japanese but my understanding is the text usually says “Divine Wind (Kamikaze)” for the Kamikaze pilots and things like “Certain Victory” or “The best of Japan” for others.
I guess I think it’s just strange. Why they wear such thing in normal missions?
BTW there’re lots of variety of texts like 七生報国 (I will serve my country even if I am reborn seven times, famous testament by loyalist samurai, Masashige Kusunoki), 神雷 (god thunder), 必中 (definitely hit to the target)
Also, headband written with “Kamikaze” were mostly used by civilians. (Although perhaps military personal used it too) Japanese headband (Hachimaki) is just an item to make roll up their sleeves.
Well the main two functions originally was to essentially be an arming cap under a samurai’s helmet, and to keep sweat out of the eyes. So in addition to the symbolic and tradition based reasons for wearing one, it still had some practical function.
