This holster is manufactured to fit the Nambu Type 14 that I just imported from the States. The holster is made from rubberized canvas. In my experience Japanese leather was just terrible quality and little of it survived use. This material was substituted as it resisted the damp of the S.E.Asia battlefield much better. It’s marked with kanji inside but I have no idea what it says. I’ll be off to the internet to find out. The holster has a small pouch in the front for storing a 15 round carton of 8mm pistol ammunition. The cleaning rod is missing, something else for me to rectify.
The holster has two rows of kanji inside the flap. I am an idiot and have the photo upside down but basically the first row starts with “sho”, short for Showa, the emperors name. Then there is the kanji for the number 10 followed by a 5 or a 9. This would mean 1940 or 1944. 1940 is too early for one of these canvas holsters so it must be 1944. Then below is the mark for the Nagoya Arsenal and finally an acceptance mark.
This is the holster that I just sourced for my 1944 Walther P38 pictured below. By 1944 they had pretty much stopped making hard shell holsters (they do exist). Instead they supplied the pistol with a breakaway style holster as here. Folks call them a soft shell holster but that is incorrect.
Kiwi Medals 