Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries

by Dion Williams

Uniforms of the Japanese Army

Previous to the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 the officers and enlisted men of the Japanese Army wore uniforms of dark blue or red cloth with facings of distinctive colors for the various arms, but this proved so conspicuous on the battlefields of that war that a service uniform of khaki-colored cloth for winter and khaki cotton drill for summer was adopted. The officers, however, retained for their dress uniforms the old dress uniforms of dark blue and red cloth with heavy decorations of gold lace.

The dress uniform of the officers consists of a dark blue double breasted frock coat with standing collar; trousers of dark blue cloth with stripes of the corps color down the outer leg seams for all arms except the cavalry in which the officers wear red breeches; black boots; and a kepi style cap decorated with gold lace and having a red and white standing plume at the front, this cap being of red cloth for the cavalry and of blue cloth for the other arms.

The collar of the dress coat is covered with gold lace; the buttons are gilt with a design of chrysanthemums and cherry blossoms; shoulder knots of plaited gold cord and a sash belt of gold and red stripes with heavy tassels at the left side are worn with it, and the rank is indicated by sleeve decorations consisting of a knot made up of narrow stripes of gold braid of the same design as that worn by officers of the United States Army. This sleeve knot is made of one stripe for Second Lieutenant and one additional stripe for each step up in grade through the ranks of First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Major General, Lieutenant General and Field Marshal, the latter having a knot of nine stripes.

The distinctive colors for the different arms of the service are red for infantry, green for cavalry, yellow for artillery, crimson for pioneers, gray for the quartermaster corps, and black for the gendarmerie (national police).

The service uniforms for both officers and enlisted men consist of a single-breasted sack coat of khaki-colored woolen cloth for winter and cotton drill for summer; trousers or breeches of the same materials, and a bell-crowned cap with sloping visor of tan leather and a band of the distinctive color of the arm of the service.

The service coat has a standing collar with a patch of the distinctive color for the arm of the service on each side of the neck opening, a pocket with buttoned flap on each side of the breast and a plain pocket on each side below the waist.

Officers wear breeches and boots when mounted and tan leather leggings or khaki-colored wrap puttees for dismounted service. The shoes worn by both officers and enlisted men with the service uniform are of tan leather.

The rank of the officers is indicated by shoulder straps worn transversely across the shoulders next to the shoulder seams of the sleeves, after the style of the shoulder strap worn by officers of the United States Army with their blue dress coats. These are the only two great armies in which this form of shoulder strap is worn by officers to indicate rank.

These shoulder straps are covered with cloth of the distinctive color of the arm of the service with stripes of gold braid running lengthwise of them on the same scheme as that used on the shoulder straps worn by Japanese naval officers as illustrated, namely, for General officers one wide stripe, for field officers two narrow stripes and for company officers one narrow stripe. On the gold stripes silver stars are worn for the different grades of rank in each class. The number of stripes and stars for each grade is as follows:

General Officers.
General	Three stars on one wide gold stripe.
Lieutenant General	Two stars on one wide gold stripe.
Major General	One star on one wide gold stripe.
Field Officers.
Colonel	Three stars on two narrow gold stripes.
Lieutenant Colonel	Two stars on two narrow gold stripes.
Major	One star on two narrow gold stripes.
Company Officers.
Captain	Three stars on one narrow gold stripe.
First Lieutenant	Two stars on one narrow gold stripe.
Second Lieutenant	One star on one narrow gold stripe.

The rank of noncommissioned officers is shown by narrow stripes around the cuffs, and for all enlisted men the arm of the service is indicated by the color patches on each side of the collar and the regimental number is worn upon these collar patches, Arabic figures being used for the regular service, Roman numerals for the militia and Arabic figures on one side of the collar and Roman on the other for the reserves.

The overcoat for officers is a double-breasted ulster similar to that worn by American officers, and that for enlisted men is single-breasted and short. The overcoats are of khaki-colored cloth.

The service belts for both officers and men are of tan leather.