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Development of computer translation opened enormous possibilities for the researchers of Japanese military, who don’t know Japanese. However, even a small knowledge of Japanese language will greatly help you to understand the quirks of the Google translator, for example.
It’s worth noting, that Japanese military, like every military in the world, sometimes used peculiar terms/names for the units, weaponry parts, tactical moves, etc., that simply defy literally translation. And in Japan Army and Navy sometimes had different Japanese names for one name in English.
So “military” language resources at hand are a must for any researcher of Japanese military no matter the knowledge of Japanese language.
TM 30-541 Japanese Military Dictionary 1944: https://archive.org/details/TM30-541/
TM 30-485 Japanese-English Glossary, Technical Communication Terms 1943: https://archive.org/details/TM30-485/
TM 30-481 The supplementary Japanese-English dictionary 1945: https://archive.org/details/aps3242.0001.001.umich.edu/
Japanese-English dictionary of specialized terminology of JACAR: https://www.jacar.go.jp/english/Japanese-English_dictionary_en/index.html
Probably the most thorough modern attempt to translate Japanese organizational terms.
Official translation of IJN organizational terms from Japanese into English and French 1934: http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/m_j2ef.htm
If you’d like to know, why IJN “air group” is called “air corps” in some books in English – look here.
TME 30-480 Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, 1944: https://archive.org/details/TM30-480/
Obsolete in many chapters by the time it went to print, it still has reference value in Chapter 11 “Uniforms, personal equipment, and insignia” (some information on awards), Chapter 12 “Conventional signs and abbreviations”, Chapter 13 “Military terms and characters”.
Romaji to Hiragana and Katakana converter - http://whiteagle.net/
Rank Structure of IJN
In English (only for 1942 changes): http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/m_rank.htm
In Japanese (whole history of IJN rank changes): http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/m_rank.htm
Information on Japanese awards
Dates of award of Japanese orders and other honors: https://web.archive.org/web/20190202035737/http://www.geocities.jp/nakanolib/mokuji.htm
Useful for accurately establishing date of the photo.
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