Is Japanese Militaria ever going to 'take off'

[mravery]

Hey guys,



Just trying to start an open discussion in regards to the Japanese militaria collection arena....



I have 'dabbled' in the Japanese stuff for a few years but not very heavy. One thing that I have noticed (to me anyway) is that it appears then the market for the Japanese stuff is not that 'hot' ....... When it comes to the German stuff.... if it has a Swastika on it... it grabs other collectors interest with all the 'ooooos and aaaaaaas'.... but when it's Japanese.... there always seems to be 'ho-hum'...



Prices also don't seem as volatile with the Jap stuff as there is with the German..... The price for a Japanese cap is about the same now as it was 3 years ago... with the German caps... prices seem to go up monthly......



My thoughts are that this is due to a couple of things.....



1) The demand and interest in items seems to be in direct relation to the available references on the topic .... and currently I think the references on Japanese items is far and few in-between.



2) The 'language barrier'. Even though German is a foreign language, there are still translators (on-line) that can assist with the reading and research. With the use of the Japanese characters.... translating is a much more complex effort.



3) Quality of the items. Most of the German items are well made and high quality whereas the Japanese items (most) pale in comparison.



Well.... these are my 'two cents' and I would be curious as to the thoughts of other collectors.



Cheers

Mark