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Bibliography and Notes on Sources
Notes on Sources Consulted
These pages are a summary of a much larger group of notes
collected over several years, a project I began around 1996, for a
variety of reasons too complicated to get into here.
At the time, there was very little available on the topic of the Japanese
Army during the Second World War in any language, particularly
English. Most sources were based upon period Allied intelligence
briefings which were (and still are) superior to the interpretations of
modern scholars in many ways, but which only scratched the surface
when it came to Japanese armor. Wargames materials at the time
tended to rate Japanese armor as "cardboard on wheels", and there
were a large number of egregious errors in fairly prominent
publications, which made the Japanese situation even worse than it
was historically for anybody fool enough to put them on the tabletop.
Nearly ten years later, very little has changed. Some wargamers have
learned to appreciate the "unique" experience of leading Japanese
forces on the tabletop, and Japanese modellers have taken a new
interest in their own vehicles from the WW2 period, but the number of
sources is still fairly insignificant compared to those produced about
Tigers, Tigers, and well... Tigers.
The sources below don't list an exhaustive sampling of everything out
there, but they will get you started, and they are (most importantly)
inherently readable and generally free of bias. A few sources are in my
personal library; others include useful websites with information and
photographs generally not available elsewhere. You can find most of
these through Amazon or a simple use of the Google search engine.
A few others are available only through E-Bay or rare book stores.
Sometimes you'll get lucky and meet some wonderful people in Japan
who will help you out, if you're truly interested in the subject and won't
get insanely political with them.
Finally, two disclaimers to cover my rear end.
Most importantly, my inclusion of a source here does not necessarily
constitute my endorsement of the political views of an author, nor does
it constitute any sort of agreement with all the facts he/she presents. I
am not a Fascist, a National Socialist, or even a member of the Rotary
Club.
Second, all photos here were, at the time of their use, public domain
photos taken from my own collection or from the various resources
made available by the Internet. Whenever possible, I have endeavored
to use actual photos of the vehicles during the period, failing that I have
attempted to locate photos of the weapons as they exist today. Failing
all of these, I have accessed sketches and photos in public domain
resources for modellers and armor enthusiasts. You can easily find
any of the photos here online. But none of them will be found with a
copyright, to my knowledge.
Books
Coox, Alvin D Nomohan: Japan Against Russia, 1939 Vols I&II
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985
Drea, Edward J. Nomohan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939.
Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, 1981
Drea, Edward J. In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial
Japanese Army. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1998
Forty, George Japanese Army Handbook, 1939-1945
Somerset: Sutton Publishing, 1999
Foss, Christopher S., Editor The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored
Fighting Vehicles from 1915 to the Present Day. London: Amber Books,
1992
U.S. War Department Handbook on Japanese Military Forces
Original 1944; Republished 1995, Louisiana University Press
Websites
Taki's Home Page
Taki is a Japanese wargamer and modeller with a very interesting collection of
Japanese armored topics unavailable elsewhere.
Tanks!
An ecclectic and useful collection of data regarding the history of armored
warfare. A few errors, but a very worthy resource nonetheless. Has not been
updated in some time. A fair warning - can sometimes get a bit political. Nothing
offensive, but has a very definite viewpoint.
World War Two Vehicles.Com
An excellent resource of generally reliable information covering several nations.
Designed for Wargamers. Invaluable for hard to find production numbers,
frequently neglected in major printed sources.
Current Status of WW2-Era Japanese AFVs
Japanese vehicles themselves are (understandably) fairly rare these
days. Most of the surviving examples are in Japan. These include
some pretty rare stuff. A fully functioning Type 1 Chi-He was recently
discovered at the bottom of the Inland Sea and is now being restored,
for example. A few examples (especially the lighter stuff - Type 95
Ha-Gos and a number of tankettes) can be found scattered around the
islands of the Pacific (for obvious reasons); they are in varying degrees
of disrepair. Finally, some examples can be found in Australia, Britain,
and the United States.
Until recently, the neglect of rare Japanese vehicles(and historic
vehicles in general) was absolutely criminal in the United States, but
this is slowly being redressed at places like the Aberdeen Proving
Grounds. Aberdeen has the world's only surviving examples of a
number of unusual armored vehicles from every era, and you should
make an effort to get there if you'd like to see a lot of amazing stuff.
Japanese Vehicles in Miniature
I am currently working on compiling a list of Japanese vehicles in
miniature. When it is complete, I will add it to Senshan, in the hopes
that it will prove useful to fellow wargamers. In the meanwhile, I hope
that my bibliography is helpful to you!
These pages are a summary of a much larger group of notes
collected over several years, a project I began around 1996, for a
variety of reasons too complicated to get into here.
At the time, there was very little available on the topic of the Japanese
Army during the Second World War in any language, particularly
English. Most sources were based upon period Allied intelligence
briefings which were (and still are) superior to the interpretations of
modern scholars in many ways, but which only scratched the surface
when it came to Japanese armor. Wargames materials at the time
tended to rate Japanese armor as "cardboard on wheels", and there
were a large number of egregious errors in fairly prominent
publications, which made the Japanese situation even worse than it
was historically for anybody fool enough to put them on the tabletop.
Nearly ten years later, very little has changed. Some wargamers have
learned to appreciate the "unique" experience of leading Japanese
forces on the tabletop, and Japanese modellers have taken a new
interest in their own vehicles from the WW2 period, but the number of
sources is still fairly insignificant compared to those produced about
Tigers, Tigers, and well... Tigers.
The sources below don't list an exhaustive sampling of everything out
there, but they will get you started, and they are (most importantly)
inherently readable and generally free of bias. A few sources are in my
personal library; others include useful websites with information and
photographs generally not available elsewhere. You can find most of
these through Amazon or a simple use of the Google search engine.
A few others are available only through E-Bay or rare book stores.
Sometimes you'll get lucky and meet some wonderful people in Japan
who will help you out, if you're truly interested in the subject and won't
get insanely political with them.
Finally, two disclaimers to cover my rear end.
Most importantly, my inclusion of a source here does not necessarily
constitute my endorsement of the political views of an author, nor does
it constitute any sort of agreement with all the facts he/she presents. I
am not a Fascist, a National Socialist, or even a member of the Rotary
Club.
Second, all photos here were, at the time of their use, public domain
photos taken from my own collection or from the various resources
made available by the Internet. Whenever possible, I have endeavored
to use actual photos of the vehicles during the period, failing that I have
attempted to locate photos of the weapons as they exist today. Failing
all of these, I have accessed sketches and photos in public domain
resources for modellers and armor enthusiasts. You can easily find
any of the photos here online. But none of them will be found with a
copyright, to my knowledge.
Books
Coox, Alvin D Nomohan: Japan Against Russia, 1939 Vols I&II
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985
Drea, Edward J. Nomohan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939.
Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, 1981
Drea, Edward J. In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial
Japanese Army. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1998
Forty, George Japanese Army Handbook, 1939-1945
Somerset: Sutton Publishing, 1999
Foss, Christopher S., Editor The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored
Fighting Vehicles from 1915 to the Present Day. London: Amber Books,
1992
U.S. War Department Handbook on Japanese Military Forces
Original 1944; Republished 1995, Louisiana University Press
Websites
Taki's Home Page
Taki is a Japanese wargamer and modeller with a very interesting collection of
Japanese armored topics unavailable elsewhere.
Tanks!
An ecclectic and useful collection of data regarding the history of armored
warfare. A few errors, but a very worthy resource nonetheless. Has not been
updated in some time. A fair warning - can sometimes get a bit political. Nothing
offensive, but has a very definite viewpoint.
World War Two Vehicles.Com
An excellent resource of generally reliable information covering several nations.
Designed for Wargamers. Invaluable for hard to find production numbers,
frequently neglected in major printed sources.
Current Status of WW2-Era Japanese AFVs
Japanese vehicles themselves are (understandably) fairly rare these
days. Most of the surviving examples are in Japan. These include
some pretty rare stuff. A fully functioning Type 1 Chi-He was recently
discovered at the bottom of the Inland Sea and is now being restored,
for example. A few examples (especially the lighter stuff - Type 95
Ha-Gos and a number of tankettes) can be found scattered around the
islands of the Pacific (for obvious reasons); they are in varying degrees
of disrepair. Finally, some examples can be found in Australia, Britain,
and the United States.
Until recently, the neglect of rare Japanese vehicles(and historic
vehicles in general) was absolutely criminal in the United States, but
this is slowly being redressed at places like the Aberdeen Proving
Grounds. Aberdeen has the world's only surviving examples of a
number of unusual armored vehicles from every era, and you should
make an effort to get there if you'd like to see a lot of amazing stuff.
Japanese Vehicles in Miniature
I am currently working on compiling a list of Japanese vehicles in
miniature. When it is complete, I will add it to Senshan, in the hopes
that it will prove useful to fellow wargamers. In the meanwhile, I hope
that my bibliography is helpful to you!
Universal Carriers
The Japanese particularly liked the idea of the Universal Carrier concept, first
pioneered by the British during the 1930s. A number of experiments were
attempted and vehicles designed, using purchased examples of the
Carden-Lloyd carrier as inspiration.
One such vehicle, which actually saw use in combat situations, was the "Type
FB" Swamp Carrier, first developed in 1935. According to one Japanese
source, the FB was equipped with standard tracks surrounded by rubber
rollers. The idea was that the vehicle could move equally at ease through
swamp and on dry land, to serve a variety of purposes in the support role. At
least one hundred forty six FB's were actually produced, and some saw
service against the Allies.
They must have been somewhat successful, given the relatively large number
produced. Nevertheless, size must not have been very large, as the vehicle
could carry perhaps three or four men at maximum.
The Japanese particularly liked the idea of the Universal Carrier concept, first
pioneered by the British during the 1930s. A number of experiments were
attempted and vehicles designed, using purchased examples of the
Carden-Lloyd carrier as inspiration.
One such vehicle, which actually saw use in combat situations, was the "Type
FB" Swamp Carrier, first developed in 1935. According to one Japanese
source, the FB was equipped with standard tracks surrounded by rubber
rollers. The idea was that the vehicle could move equally at ease through
swamp and on dry land, to serve a variety of purposes in the support role. At
least one hundred forty six FB's were actually produced, and some saw
service against the Allies.
They must have been somewhat successful, given the relatively large number
produced. Nevertheless, size must not have been very large, as the vehicle
could carry perhaps three or four men at maximum.
SENSHAN - Japanese Armored Vehicles of the Second World War
