Japanese periscope binoculars? Please help!

[bampa]

A friend's father brought these back from Japan, and he and his brother would like to know more about them. I can't help, so I'm asking for some advice from you experts here on the board. They would like to know what the writing on the case means, the model, when it was made, and for what purpose. They would also like to know its approximate value, not that they plan to sell it.

The case contents seem complete. All numbered parts match and are in very good condition. However, I am assuming there was a tripod or monopod that went with this -- maybe in a separate case?

My friend's father is now gone -- he was a B24 bombardier during the war who ended up stationed in Japan in the early stages of the occupation. You can see from the bringback paper that he sent home several things, but this periscope set is one of the few remaining items with the family.

Thanks in advance for any replies....

[bampa]

more pics:

[Guamsst]

These are "trench" binoculars. They were designed to allow spotters to spot for artillery, mortars etc without having to stick their head out of the trench, pillbox or bunker. They were meant to be mounted on a tripod. This may not hurt the value that bad though as most I have seen have the tripod and no case or they don't have the tripod or the case. Ebay prices are anywhere from $400-$1400 so you will need to do some searches and watch some auctions to get a value. The show up on gunbroker as well. They are rare, but they are readily available as most people want money more than a bigass pair of ugly binoculars.

[Guamsst]

http://www.greatestcollectibles.com/ww2-massive-japanese-15x4-trench-scope-artillery-binoculars-big-eye/

[Oyaji]

Saw a pair of trench binoculars on one of the pawn shows just the other night. Think the ones I saw were U.S. made by Bausch and Lomb. This Japanese pair is made by Nikko who I believe is still in business.

[Oyaji]

Here's a rough translation.......

The script on top of the case basically says the contents contained therein is an artilliary or weapons optic.

The label plate in the other photo has the date in the top line as "Showa ju ku nen, ni gatsu." This translates to the 19th year of Showa (Hirohito's reign) or 1945 to Westerners and the month of February. Probably a manufacture date of February 1945.

Second line of label plate reads "Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushi Kaisha" which is the manufacturers name.

These are very rough translations but hopefully adds to the binocular's provenance.

Hope this helps.

[Guamsst]

Hoooray, I didn't just imagine a 19 :)