Figure 1.--

We note various comments about Japanese parachutes during World War II. Some authors claim that the Japanese pilots did not have parachutes. This is not the case. The photographic record clearly shows some air crews wearing parachutes. It is, however, true that many Japanese aviators did not have parachute and not just the Kamikaze pilots. Although the Japanese did form parachute infantry units. The limited use of parachutes among aviators was the case despite the fact that the Japanese had extensive access to silk. Japan was a major producer of silk and before the War, exported large quantities. Thousands of households in rural areas ere involved in silk reeling, and three-quarters of the output was exported. 【Chase] And silk was the major fabric used for parachutes, silk exports ended with the advent of the Pacific War (December 1941). By this time because of German operations (1940-41), the United States was preparing to form parachute units and needed silk. Like American, British, and German aviation operations, pilots were a very valuable commodity. It was the shortage of experienced pilots, not aircraft, that almost caused the British to lose the all-important battle of Britain. This was especially true of the Japanese because they had so few and their training program was not geared up to produce very many new skilled pilots. After all, a trained and experienced pilot was a valuable asset. Many of the pilots, however, decided not to use them. This was an individual choice. Many complained that they restricted movement in the cockpit. Also the pilots often operating over enemy territory did not want to be captured. Most commanders allowed the pilots to decide. Some base commanders insisted that parachutes be used. In this case, the pilots often put them on. but just used them as sseat cushion. There is some indication that usage increased as air combat shifted to the Home Islands in the final months of the War.

Silk Industry

Sericulture or the production of silk was developed in ancient China, but little is know about just when and where. Confucian texts texts provide the first written evidence (2700 BC). Archaeological date it even earlier to the Yangshao period (5000–3000 BC). It became a state secret, but a secret that leaked out to other parts of Asia, including South Asia, including the Indus Valley civilization. The Chinese were more successful in keeping the silk secret from Europeans. But for some reason, they succeeded in keeping it from Japan for thousands of years. Silk worms finally reached Japan, although accounts vary as to just when this occured. It may have occurred as early as 3rd century BC), but some accounts are much later (4th century AD). This wide chronological range may be due to the many different skills involved. It is believed that Japanese living in China and Korea or immigrants from thesecountries introduced sericulture techniques, silk-reeling, dyeing, and weaving as well as refinements over time. Sericulture seems to have become an important economic activity in Japan (7th century AD). It was a kind of cottage industry. Something that could be carried out in the humblest of peasant homes. And silk would lead Japan into the industrial era. Japan did not export large quantities of silk to the west until Commodore Perry opened Japan (1853). Silk, both raw silk and silk fabrics, were by far the most important item in the earliest stages of Japanese industrialization. Silk exports in the late-19th century were nearly half of Japan's total exports and in 1905 exceeded those from China. 【Kiyokawa】 As Japan industrialized, the relative importance of silk declines as many new products began to be imported, but silk continued to be important until Japan launched the Pacific War (1941). So the limited use of parachutes among aviators was the case despite the fact that the Japanese had extensive access to silk. Thousands of households in rural areas were still involved in silk reeling, and three-quarters of the output was exported. 【Chase】 And silk was the major fabric used for parachute, silk exports ended with the advent of the Pacific War (December 1941). Japan lost the ability to sell in foreign markets.

Existence of Parachutes

We have seen various references to Japanese use of parachutes, both claiming that they did and did not wear them. This disparity of opinion probably results from the fact that some did and some did not. Every Japanese pilot and we think air crews were issued parachute. The photographic record contains many examples of pilots and air crews wearing parachutes, at least on the ground. Japanese plots were highly trained, meaning the Imperial Army and Navy had made a major investment in them. And once the War began it was important to protect this investment as much as possible. The Japanese training programs could not begin to keep up with the attrition, especially after Midway (June 1942).

Usage: Infantry Units

Both the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy formed paratroop units. Preparations began n the late-1930s, but real efforts only began with reports arrived of German operations in their Western Offensive (May 1940). The Army unit was unit was a division-level force organized as Teishin Shudan (挺進集団, Raiding Group). 【Ness】 Organizationally it was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF). They were to participate in invasion of the Dutch East Indies (DEI) to seize the oil fields, but their transport ship caught fire. They were rescued, but lost all their equipment. A planned drop in Burma was also aborted. And like German paratroops were used as light infantry during the rest of the War, taking heavy casualties. The Imperial Japanese Navy also organized naval paratroopers during World War II. The troops were officially part of the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF/Rikusentai). 【Kiyokawa】 The men were recruited from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Yokosuka SNLFs. The 2nd Yokosuka was not use for airborne drops. The only actual air drops we know of occurred early in the Pacific War as part of the Japanese invasion of the DEI. They were part of the reason that the oil fields were successfully seized with very little damage.

Usage: Air Crews

While parachutes were issued, many pilot did not wear them. In some cases commanders allowed the pilots to make this decision themselves. This varies in large measure on the type of plane. The cres wof sea planes wore them. Bomber crews like the 'Betty" did not, largely because it was difficult to exit Japanese bombers. With fighter pilots it was optional, but many pilots chose not to wear them. The main reason was that it restricted movement in the cockpit and and added weight. There was also the Japanese assessment that pilots and crews bailing out over the open ocean or island jungle canopy were unlikely to survive. 【Claringbould】 Some base commanders insisted, but the pilots if ordered to wear them may have often just used them as seat cushion. Various reasons are given for the decision of many pilots and air crews not to use parachutes. We notice a Japanese aviator not using a parachute in air combat around Truk Lagoon (1944). He may have been an Army pilot. Many fighter pilots who often had the option of using parachutes pilots chose not to use them, complaining that they restricted their movement and thus performance as a pilot. And when operating over enemy territory, which was often the case during the first year of the War, Japanese pilots could not risk the dishonor of capture. Very few Japanese pilots were captured during the war and those who were found incapacitated in plane wrecks rather than men who had bailed out. We note actual war film footage of American sailors trying to rescue a downed Japanese pilot in the water, Rather than submit to rescue he committed suicide with a grenade. A reader writes, "From what I have read the earliest issuing of parachutes did not start until around 1937 so perhaps those early and experienced pilots were not used to having to wear them and these pilots are the ones who lived long enough through first 18 months of the Pacific War to write about their life and combat stories before they were killed. The next generation could have been just following the opinions of their instructors and by 1944 Jap pilots had a very short life expectancy in combat (think Kamikaze) so for them there was no need. But I am sure that many Jap pilots, but not all, did start to wear them when they started to have combat over Japan. Knowing how few experienced pilots were left they were forced to try and save themselves to fight another day. And this is in sharp contrast to the situation in Europe where both the Allied pilots and the Germans had no hesitations to use parachutes even over enemy land. So this issue in Japan could be a part of their Bushido teachings as warriors to fight to the death at all times and anywhere."

Sakai Saburo

Japanese air ace, Sakai Saburo, who participated in the Pearl Harbor attack provides a short overview of parachute usage n the Imperial Navy. The same may have been true of Army pilots, although there were significant differences between the two services. We are less sure about bombers, especially the larger four engine bombers. "In 1942, none of our fighter planes carried pilot armor, nor did the Zeros have self-sealing fuel tanks, as did the American planes. As the enemy pilots soon discovered, a burst of their 50-caliber bullets into the fuel tanks of a Zero caused it to explode violently in flames. Despite this, in those days not one of our pilots flew with parachutes. This has been misinterpreted in the West as proof that our leaders were disdainful of our lives, that all Japanese pilots were expendable and regarded as pawns rather than human beings. This was far from the truth. Every man was assigned a parachute; the decision to fly without them was our own and not the result of orders from higher headquarters. Actually, we were urged, although not ordered, to wear the parachutes in combat. At some fields the base commander insisted that chutes be worn, and those men had no choice but to place the bulky packs in their planes. Often, however, they never fastened the straps, and used the chutes only as seat cushions. We had little use for these parachutes, for the only purpose they served for us was to hamstring our cockpit movements in a battle. It was difficult to move our arms and legs when encumbered by chute straps. There was another, and equally compelling, reason for not carrying the chutes into combat. The majority of our battles were fought with enemy fighters over their own fields. It was out of the question to bail out over enemy territory, for such a move meant a willingness to be captured, and nowhere in the Japanese military code or in the traditional Bushido (Samurai code) could one find the distasteful term 'Prisoner of War'. There were no prisoners. A man who did not return from combat was dead. No fighter pilot of any courage would ever permit himself to be captured by the enemy. It was completely unthinkable ..." 【Saburo, pp. 162-63.】

Final Months

In the final month of the War the fighting shifted to the Home Island. Here the pilots no longer had to worry about capture. We are unsure just how many pilots at this phase of the War wore their chutes as there still was the problem of restricting movement. A reader writes, "I have read numerous accounts of American pilots seeing Jap pilots bailing out in some of the few dog fights that happened over Japan. Through all the war until then I don't think I ever read of Japanese pilots bailing out in previous combats.

Design

We do not notice Allied pilots making the same complaint. And thus we wonder if the Japanese parachutes were poorly designed

Sources

Chase, Kerry A. "Trading Blocs: States, Firms, and Regions in the World Economy" Ch.3 (The University of Michigan Press).

Claringbould, Michael. Interview by Chris ????? in "Not just Kamikaze: The Reality of Japanese WW2 pilots".

Kiyokawa, Yukihiko. "The diffusion of new technologies in the Japanese sericulture industry: The case of the hybrid silkworm," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics Vol. 25, no. 1 (1984), pp. 31–59.

Ness, Leland. Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945: Vol. 1. (Helion and Company: 2015).

Saburo, Sakai. With Martin Caidin and Fred Saito. Samurai! (1957). Sburo's book was reprinted as part of the Classics of Naval Literature series with a new introduction (Naval Institute Press, 2001).

Yaklitch, Alsleben and Takizawa. "Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces, The Netherlands East Indies 1941-1942.

Created: 7:24 PM 5/18/2012
Last updated: 8:17 PM 6/3/2023