Due to the extreme scarcity of surviving records on this subject, the author can only compile and organize the materials currently available. If you have any additional information or details not covered in this article, please leave a comment.
Keep in mind that this item is not for mass distribution; it is a rare piece of equipment
【After the urban street fighting of the January 28th Incident in Shanghai, Japanese army officers displayed their body armor. The officer in the front row center was the former commander of the 6th Brigade】
Experiments on body armor for the Imperial Japanese Army actually date back to the 37th year of the Meiji era, yet no records of its combat usage exist.
During the Showa era, records regarding the production and documentation of body armor gradually became more detailed. Nevertheless, most official documents only refer to it by the general term bulletproof vest , making it impossible to identify specific models. However, delivery records indicate that the total quantity of body armor issued to the Imperial Japanese Army was far from negligible
Some body armor was issued to units of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. Its official designation remains unknown, though it is believed to be a product of Hokkaido Steel Works.
A group of police officers wearing body armor during drills. In fact, police departments were also major recipients of bulletproof vests.
In 1932 (Showa 7), Army Ordinance No. 28 laid down the specifications for the new type of body armor. Named the Type 92 Bulletproof Equipment after the 2592nd year of the Imperial reign of Emperor Jimmu, it weighed 3.6 kg and consisted of two layers: an outer layer of cloth-wrapped steel plates with an estimated thickness of 8 millimeters, and an inner lining made of cotton and fabric. It was issued to certain special forces to stop close-range pistol rounds. This is one of the very few identifiable standard models of body armor used by the Imperial Japanese Army
Official Gazette No. 1796 of Showa 7 laid down the official specifications for the body armor.
The outer shell and inner lining of the Type 92 Bulletproof Equipment are clearly documented
Wearing examples of the Type 92 Bulletproof Equipment are documented in U.S. Army soldier manuals.
Aside from the standard-issue body armor of the Imperial Japanese Army, there were also privately manufactured variants. However, photographic evidence of most of these civilian models has not survived.
The Honda-style Bulletproof Armor Manufactory was located in Sendai. It was operated by Kinshiro Kato, with technical guidance provided by Dr. Kotaro Honda.
The body armor invented by Dr. Kotaro Honda was fitted with six armor plates across the chest, abdomen and waist, plus three additional plates on the back. The thin steel plates issued for home islands could stop direct fire from Colt pistols. The thicker plates supplied to Manchukuo were capable of resisting Type 1 Mauser rifle fire at 10 meters, while extra-thick plates could withstand Arisaka Type 38 rifle rounds at 200 meters.
No photographic evidence exists to confirm that Honda-style body armor was issued to the Imperial Japanese Army. However, it is likely that Manchukuo forces, which maintained trade ties with Sendai, were indeed equipped with this armor.
With the exception of the Type 92 Bulletproof Equipment, all other body armor referenced in Japanese army documents is recorded only under generic terms without official model designations, making it extremely difficult to identify any individual piece of body armor. The author has made every effort to compile the available information here. Additionally, the Imperial Japanese Army possessed armor similar to the Imperial Japanese Navy’s first model of body armor. U.S. military tests showed it was easily penetrated by .308 ammunition at 100 yards, though further details will not be elaborated on here.
- yes
- no
Considering that this Japanese body armor was not mass-produced, it was at most a patchwork of items manufactured by local research institutes and handicraft workshops.
The total output was no more than 1,000 units, which pales in comparison to the 300,000 sets of body armor produced by the Soviet Union throughout World War II
It is unrealistic to mass‑issue this armor to Japanese troops on the same scale as the Soviet body armor
- Add at least 5 units as extra Battle Pass rewards.
- Obtainable via event activities, with a giveaway of 5 to 8 units.
- Bind it to exclusive outfits of special units such as Japanese police forces and naval landing troops, just like the motorcyclist skins.
- Add an unlock path via the tech tree
- Add it to gold crates with a 1% drop rate, making players spend gold to roll for it.
- Don’t add
Well, for such a rare item, I don’t want it to end up like Japan’s mass-issued 150 sprint katana. While other nations are grinding hard for blue cards to exchange for melee weapons during events, Japanese players (the major investor group in the East Asian server) already get free access to the 150 sprint meta blade.
The Soviet body armor can be widely issued because it has a historical background of large-scale production and deployment.
