Why do you do Japanese? Are you guys a bunch of Politicos with an agenda?
Absolutely not. We portray the average combat soldiers of the 9th Imperial Marines Division. We do not tolerate any form of Communist, neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, extremist, racist, or derogatory behavior within our ranks. We are non-political in this regard, with a "zero-tolerance" policy in place. The hobby of reenacting and our group has no room for any nonsense such as that, and it is not tolerated in any capacity. We are first and foremost students of history, and we wish to portray the average soldier. Nothing more, nothing less.
In addition, many of our members have WWII impressions other than Japanese. From time to time, they have attended events as German Afrika Koprs , American soldiers, British soldiers, Russian soldiers, and even Waffen-SS soldiers. Members of our group are not forced to be exclusively Japanese all of the time. Occasionally, one may want to reenact from a different perspective, and our group offers that flexibility.
In a nutshell, we are not even close to being Communists/Nazis/Extreamists in real life. And if anyone is pinning their political hope on us and other reenactors, well, they will be sadly disappointed.
I saw on the History Channel a documentary showing all sorts of horrible things that the Japanese did. How do you address and reconcile that fact?
No one denies that the Japanese in WWII committed numerous crimes against humanity. No one denies that some Japanese soldiers committed war atrocities against civilians and POW's as well as combatants. However, we are portraying the average soldier. And the average soldier fought for his country and for his friends, not for politics.
What type of person joins your group?
All kinds. Blue collar, white collar, and no collar. We have members that work for Fortune 500 corporations, members who work for their own small businesses, and members somewhere in between. We have members who are single and some who are married with children. We have young folks and more mature folks. We have a good mix and cross section of the population. Mostly, we're average folks who have a hobby that is a bit unusual.
What do you look for in a candidate?
Ideally, a candidate will embody the following elements:
1. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who wish to make a positive contribution to the unit, the hobby, and history.
2. We look for candidates who are serious about joining a unit with very high authenticity standards.
3. We seek members who are never "content", but rather who strive to create a better personal impression, and collectively, a better unit impression.
4. We seek "do-er's", self motivated folks who are willing to participate equally in both the fun and not so fun aspects of the hobby. Make no mistake, a lot of work, time, effort, and money go into a making the hobby a success. Since this unit has vehicles, membership comes with the acknowledged awareness that assistance is required in this regard. These vehicles require maintenance, and we have a number of "work parties" throughout the course of the year to assist the owners of these vehicles in the maintenance and upkeep of these machines. In addition, assistance is needed in loading and unloading of them from the trailers that bring them to and from the events. Finally, work is needed before and after events to set up the vehicles for action, and then to break them back down for transport away from the event.
5. in addition to vehicular duties, when we set up a base camp, we need folks to help in various chores, such as gathering firewood, making a fire pit, setting things up, making a beer or gas run, etc.
6. Likewise, we always need folks to assist in the clean up procedure as well. We are not looking for folks to show up just before a battle begins and take off as it ends. That does not build unity, nor does it show respect for your fellow unit member. It is not fair that the same members are consistently stuck doing the less glamorous parts of the hobby, because there is plenty of work to go around. Understandably, we all have lives outside the hobby that may require you to leave early or arrive late. We expect this to be the exception, rather then the rule.
7. Finally, we are looking for folks who are serious in their approach. Again, we recognize that this is a hobby, and we realize and encourage that you have a life outside of it. However, we do ask that if you make the commitment to join, you do so with the intent of being a serious, productive member of our group. That means you make the commitment to:
i. Make unit meetings when they are called.
ii. Keep you dues up to date.
iii. Attend as many events as possible.
iv. Take pride in the unit and make every effort to make it the premiere unit in the hobby.
v. Do not only what is asked, but volunteer for additional responsibilities.
vi. Work to make your impression, uniform, and equipment as correct as possible. We are a fun group, and we are pretty easy going, but we do request that you approach membership with the proper mind set. Too many folks are dreamers, excuse makers, and BS 'ers. The unit's members have invested a lot of time and money, and we have no time or patience for anything less than the best. We're not a beer-drinking club that likes to play dress up and burn powder-We want members, not fringe-associates!
![War_flag_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Army_xxlasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf[1].png](https://defence.pk./attachments/war_flag_of_the_imperial_japanese_army_xxlasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf-1-png.197470/ "War_flag_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Army_xxlasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf[1].png")
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Nice!!! Just be kind to those poor american sailors. Any chance you guys will have an "American Kamikaze?"
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. Not a good spot for a sniper at all!
