WW2 Japanese Naval Landing Force Sun Helmet

This is a very rare WW2 Japanese Naval Landing Force Sun Helmet in most excellent condition. We see these every 10 years or so.

Sun helmets were worn mostly by commissioned officers,  Photographic evidence also shows Petty Officers & lower enlisted ranks wearing these individually and by several members in small units.

This particular sun helmet, like most of the era, is made of cork with a cotton cover and adjustable chin strap.

It has an official issue, stamped-brass, Navy helmet badge on the front.

The crown has the characters#上 which means number upper.

The red stamp appears to be an inspector’s mark.

The paper label inside translates as follows:

帽 Hat (located in both upper corners)

公定僵格認證 Official Certification (top center)

規格 Standard 6-1

認定 Certification 12540

壹個=付  Single Price 8 円 Yen 00 錢 Money

As reference, 8 yen, as this helmet is priced, in 1940/41 was about $1.87 USD.

Compare 8 Yen to the average monthly pay of a seaman in the Japanese Navy at about 8 or 9 yen. An Ensign earned about 20.5 yen. This would have been unaffordable to most enlisted and lower ranking officers.  Few sailors would spend an entire month’s pay on this luxury item. Some might save or use lay-away, or perhaps two sailors would pitch in and share it. Officers were given a uniform stipend so it would have been more affordable for an Ensign, LTjg or Lt.

Based on the presence of the price tag, this is most likely a helmet sold at Naval clothing supply stores located on base, off base or by mail order.

In the case of photos of enlisted sailors wearing these, we have seen entire units wearing sun helmets but this was in China where they were likely lower cost locally made vs the Japanese made sun helmets. It is also possible they were purchased with unit funds.

It should be noted that the Japanese Army had an issue sun helmets made of lower cost bamboo and cloth.

Sun helmets saw extensive use in SE Asia, Southern China and across the Pacific, just like this sun helmet would have seen.

It has a 56 cm head circumference tag which equates to a US hat size of 7 or 6 7/8 in the US.