JN061 "Kenpeitai Officer"

The Kenpeitai was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881-1945. It was both a conventional military police force and a ‘secret police’ in Japanese occupied territories.

Their reputation for brutality was infamous in occupied countries and both ordinary civilians as well as military prisoners-of-war often became their victims.

The Kenpeitai were also active in Japan itself, especially during WW2. It’s a little – known fact that General Hideki Tojo, before the war, commanded all of these military policemen, both inside and outside Japan.

In the field and behind the lines they could be easily recognized by the special white headband worn around their helmets and a white, cloth armband bearing the two Japanese characters of their unit name.