Hello from Japan, Golden bat is indeed still on the market however it is not in the same form as it once was. See in Japan there was an age where cigarettes came in 3 classifications. those being 1st-3rd rate. 1st rate would be a more expensive brand usually sold by JT or Japan Tobacco in a higher quality cig and better presentation etc. (I believe some U.S brands like Marlboro fall under this category). Golden bat, along side other brands like echo were filter less but the tobacco used was light and mellow. This approach was because cigarette tax rates were based off of weight which is why golden bat and echo could sell a pack of 20 for around 40-50 yen and in pre 2019 they cost about 250 because of inflation. However, come 2019 the tax rate was increased for all cigarettes and kind of abolished the rating system which would have put echo and golden bat up to 1st rate price making it about 500 yen per pack. To get around this both echo and golden bat stopped making cigarettes and started making filtered cigars as they could then keep the price down to 250 as the regulations of cigars are different. Both golden bat and echo kinda have the same taste but honestly taste a little better since becoming cigars and of course they all have filters now. The only downside is golden bat is only sold in Hokkaido or on very rare occasions in a smoke shop that marks the price up to about 500-750 per pack. If you enjoy smoking and want something short but has a decent taste I recommend golden bat but honestly wakaba and echo both are good filtered cigars for a good price. Also cold smoke them, if you treat it like a normal cig it wont taste as good so treat it more like, well, a small cigar.
there's a lot of parallels there with the US cigarette market. Cigars are taxed differently so a lot of inexpensive brands like Ohm or 305 will wrap with a tobacco based paper to change their tax status, or since flavored cigarettes are banned brands like Djarum will do it to make clove cigarettes
@@ben-chan420 there are some grey market sites that sell imported cigarettes from various countries, or sometimes you can get them on military bases and at duty free stores.
Golden bat are with a strong coffee the breakfast of champions. If your lucky some of the ma and pa tobacco shops in the country have old stock . Now I know the full story, thanks. I was bummed when they just disappeared off the shelf.
@@dmo530 bro don't say that... man has been missing too long and I'm getting worried. It could be he just has no content to cover, but as far as I've heard nobody has heard anything from him.
Next episode: "Now we take Golden Bat cigarettes to the range..." Of course cigarettes degrade badly with time and these would be like smoking cardboard.
@@Reinhard96 he runs a landscaping company so I imagine with the usual seasonal work he's probably also busy with more work from the couple hurricanes this year.
Hey Ian do you know what they would do to stop their own soldiers smoking them ? Considering that they tried to circulate them they were bound to be found by Japanese soldiers. I don’t think regular troops were told about it.
Headstamp needs a book discussing the historic production of Molotov cocktails under Finland so we can cover both alcohol and explosives for Ian to check off his bingo sheet of publishing books to piss off the ATF
I doubt they were made with alcohol. molotov cocktails are generally made with gasoline because it is (and even more so was) cheaper. I think it also burns a little hotter and might ignite better.
@@Ass_of_Amalek Gasoline and Diesel mixture. At least it is described that way in "The service in the (Austrian) Army" by Karl Ruef released in the 1970s. Interesting book about equipment and tactics for warfare in alpine regions. But unfortunately it's only available in German language, if you are able to find an example. Also gives a nice overview of their firearms and equipment at that time. From P38 over Sturmgewehr 58 (FN FAL) to MG 42/MG 74 and even MP 41 (PPSh-41).
You would break the internet community of you were able to do a video with Steve1989. You both are such a calm and informative bunch. Thank you for brining the new generation knowledge
Golden Bat smokes were on the market in Japan until at least 1979. That's the last year I saw them for sale. I smoked them for a couple of years. Of course they contained no opium. They were considered a smoke for poor country people, cranky oldsters, or young bohemians. I guess they still must be on the market in Japan, but I cannot figure out who'd smoke them. They were kind of like a filterless Lucky Strike or Camel.
Local native American owned tobacco shop near me carries the filterless luckies and camels. They are a bit pricier than the normal cigarettes but I personally enjoy the taste of both brand's filterless cigarettes, I definitely think they get a better cut of tobacco myself.
I smoke filterless luckies and camels state side when I can find a good price for them, camels are better filterless than lucky strikes are if you want aromatics.
@@imadequate3376the fact that a non-filtered cigarette is more expensive than a filtered one is fubar. They went up in price when hipsters found them, I swear they used to be like 6-8 bucks a pack at one point
Stuff like this is why I absolutely love history. You wouldn’t think something as obscure as Japanese Imperial Tobacco would be so interesting until you actually look into it.
opium in alcohol beverages was widely consumed in europe and US. even COCA cola contained real cocaine. Heroin in cough medicine and we gave it to children. 😅😅😅😅
That's why I spent a lot of time in the library as a kid. My mother says I read every non-fiction book they had. Visited my hometown 5yrs ago, pretty sad to see all those old books gone. Weren't bright shiny and new. They had all of Teddy Roosevelt's books, first editions, probably sold them for a quarter. Not to mention all the hunters and gun cranks books from 1920s-70s. Keith, O'Connor, Pope and Young too many to mention its depressing. A lot of that stuff isn't on the nets.
My grandpa passed away Friday afternoon and he was an absolute gunnut. little fuddy but so am I now and I don't care. Your videos have always made me feel so close to him, I'd send him links to my favorite ones and wed talk about guns and he'd tell me stuff only Ian and grandpa could know. And now I watch this videos with a lump in my throat but still feeling close to grandpa.
Sry about your Grandpa. Sounds like you're carrying on his interests. I have my Grandpa's hunting stuff. Glad to take care of it for him. Hopefully you can do the same too : )
@@akaroth7542 that's the plan and Thank you. I was lucky enough to take over a good bit of it before he passed and talk to him about a couple hunts that his gear went on.
@@akaroth7542 the siblings, cousins and I will probably have to split up his personal effects but my grandpa left it up to my brother and I to help my Gramma and he always told us just make it fair, we know what means what and to who so if my brother cherishes something it's his and if one of my cousins who wasn't very close to him could use a latern or something or some camping gear or even a rifle he said let em have one. He gave me more in teachings and time given than any of those material possessions, it wasn't enough though. I don't think any amount could have been, but I could have stretched just a little more for an eternity if I had the chance.
I still think my favorite video of Ian is the one where a tour guide recognizes him in France and lets him take over the tour and give a lecture on the French mutinies of world war I
@@dk3062 If I recall there actually is quite a few instances of Japanese Imperialists in the 1880-1930 era explicitly stating that their goal was to emulate the British in becoming a colonial empire, and they certainly acted it out in their wars of expansion in that time. so it's more than speculation.
That spiked ammo story reminds me of the trap firewood story I heard a few years ago. This guy's grandfather was having issues with someone stealing his firewood one winter. Suspecting it was his neighbor, he commented on how the neighbors woodpile didn't seem to be shrinking, asked if they had gotten a smaller woodstove, a more efficient one, etc. The neighbor just brushed it off and the theft stopped for a while. Eventually the grandfather realized that his woodpile was shrinking faster again and decided enough was enough. He cut off the end of a small, unsplit piece of firewood, bored out the center, filled it with black powder and used the piece he'd cut off to form a plug that would blend in with the rings. He then put it back on the woodpile a few layers down so it would have a chance to weather before anyone would get to it. Sure enough, a few weeks later the piece was missing and a few days after that his neighbor's stove pipe beat the Russians into space. It also blew the door of the stove open and ejected most of it's contents. Those big old cast iron stoves were really overbuilt. A modern stove would have probably grenaded.
One hell of a reaction to stealing wood. Straight up could’ve killed the neighbor and/or burned down his house. Not sure if I’m impressed, terrified, or both.
@@TheSporelord01 if you’ve ever had to chop your own firewood, you’d be protective of it too. I’m sure if the law knew, they’d have arrested him for making booby traps, which is very illegal. And there is always the chance the neighbor may want to retaliate with something equally horrible. But the moral of the story is, don’t be a thief.
@@TheSporelord01 seriously, could’ve actually tried to catch him in the act, or maybe put a bunch the coloring agents for smoke bombs in the in the wood so he could see the results without worrying about killing a guy. certainly creative, but definitely an overboard response if you ask me. catch him and confront him, don’t try and kill the guy. yikes 😬
@@alphagt62 true, but maybe don’t be a vigilante either and just catch the dude in the act so you can turn him into the cops or something.“this was something as i mentioned in my above reply, he could have used the filling / coloring agent from colored smoke bombs or something. heck, i know a lot of copper based chemicals with burn green or blue. that would have caught the guy without possibly blowing him up.
2:15 "We see what those guys did, I'll bet we can do that, but better" is basically the national motto of Japan. The Japanese invented very few things on their own over the centuries, but they've probably _improved_ more things than any one other nation.
its usually more "we like what you have, lets modify it for our needs". A lot of their best inventions however are from the 20th century. My favorite is the Chindogu: pretty much the art of creating a gadget designed to solve one particular task well while also creating more problems.
If you work in the automotive industry they make everything different so nothing fits from one year to the next and everything rusts and corrodes after a few years ..if that's progress you can have it !
@Cancer McAids Of course sometimes the way they "improve" things is just by dialing it up to eleven, but that's usually more of a cultural thing than a technological one.
From my experience it went British/Americans invented it, Japanese improved on it (with couple notable exceptions like Czechoslovakian Jawa being copied by Honda into Super Cup). Japanese living outside of Japan are very productive when comes to inventions, so it must be for the most part cultural thing.
Vehicles would be great! I would love to see work on the less-covered vehicles like armored cars, tank destroyers, and rocket artillery like the Calliope.
My uncle was a senior NCO in MACV SOG, the reference to the C4 "performance enhanced" ammunition supplied to the Viet Cong makes me wonder, are there any books in print about those kinds of dirty tricks or specialized weapons? Perhaps somewhere out there there is a Vietnam vet or a historian with an unpublished manuscript.
During the Malayan Emergency, the British gave their enemies, the CT, grenades that would explode instantly when the ring was pulled. Also guns that shot backwards. Killing the firer. During WW2, the UK Spec Ops Excecutive, their version of the OSS. They got caught with dead rats filled with explosives. They also did that to coal.
Hey Ian, could you do a video on the rocket-propelled grappling hooks used during D-day at Pointe du Hoc? After looking at pictures of the cliffs I wanted to know how it was possible for the GIs to scale the cliffs and found reference to these grappling hooks. It’s very hard to find information about these on the internet. Also surprising, because grappling hooks are usually thought of as a joke, but we’re somehow effectively used there.
Doihara was sentenced to death and the hanging carried out in 1948. The Japanese politician involved and basically ran the opium cigarette production plant was a guy named Naoki Hoshino and he was given a life sentence but released in the 50s and went on to be the president or chairman of several companies most notably the Tokyu Corporation which made electric rail cars.
My grandfather (born 1908) was stationed in China (navy). We had his opium pipe in our china cabinet when I was a kid. Unfortunately it got stolen during one of my high school parties. He was a career soldier (cpo), a hard ass and quite the partier from what Ive been told. Died in 1967 when I was a one year old of pancreatic cancer. Wish I had got to know him.
The problems they are having with decriminalizing drugs arises from not also having a legal means of production. You just can't say it's ok now to have drugs and not have a system in place to produce as safe as can be expected drugs. When you do you have black market players who rush even harder to create a supply and you end up with a problem worse than before. Um, almost like politicians planned it that way wouldn't you say? The War on Drugs has been a complete failure and has done more to piss on our rights than probably anything else other than the so called Patriot Act. The WOD has gave us no knock warrants, helped usher in more firearm laws and a host of other things. It's time to say we tried it, we lost and time to try something else.
You don't know who is supplying it? CHINESE companies in CHINA where the communist gov't has an iron grip on what the people do so therin lies the responsible party. CHINA. Fool me once... Now it's China's turn.
I honestly never knew this, and I consider myself a lot more educated on World War 2 history than the average person. Just goes to show you never stop learning, great video.
Funny thing. Back in the 70's up on the edge of the Golden Triangle in northeastern Thailand one of the main drivers of the illicit drug culture was the Thai stick marijuana which was bud sprayed with opiates and put on bamboo sticks. It was common for US servicemen to buy stereo equipment from the base exchange, remove the tubes and stuff them with Thai stick minus the stick then use epoxy to put them back together. The tubes were tested for air tightness then blanched in carbon tetra chloride to remove any odor. When personal belongings were shipped back to the states, so was the dope.
Yea opium is addictive but not physically very harmful to you. Addicts with a clean and pure source of morphine can live relatively normal and comfortable lives if they're able to support themselves financially and not let their use get in the way of their work (if they even need to work). This is why so many old people get piled with drugs you wouldn't see younger working people getting, due to the side effects addiction come with. Tobacco? That shit will fucking kill you, and while it might not do it on the scale of a short modern war, it'll certainly keep you calm and focused through that war while you inhale other toxic shit that ultimately cumulatively kills you, just look at all the soldiers in the US dying from burn pits and exposure to other burning and toxic shit during wars in recent times. Add the most carcinogenic drug on the planet to that mix and you've got a great way to take out a nation's soldiers in their prime teaching years, when they'd be passing on everything they learned to the next generation of soldiers. Too bad we did it to ourselves this time, but given the significantly higher smoking rates in China to this day, I'd say it's still probably killing more of them than us. I doubt that was the original goal of tobacco exporters, as nobody had any idea it caused cancer back then, but I wouldn't put it past the US and Japan to have both encouraged China to smoke more so that it would kill them more. Hell, the CCP itself is probably encouraging it at this point due to their oncoming demographic crisis. The fewer old people they have to support the better, and they're cold hearted enough to let it happen all while green washing the rest of the economy in the interest of future generation's health, to look like they're doing something about the extreme cardiopulmonary cancer rates they've been experiencing due to both pollution and smoking
Tobacco itself isn't particularly bad, the heavy processing by cigarette companies to change the pH balance to one that can can be breathed in is more harmful.
@@JD-tn5lz many, I worked in San Francisco for a number of years. Most were really chill and respectful, and only a handful were homeless. There was enough darkness near the register that you could always make the serious addicts by their pinned pupils and demeanor alone, as they bought their food and coffee. We were only a few blocks from prime heroin sales neighborhood. Lost a staff member to an OD in 2018, same year one of my ex girlfriends died the same way. Used to be just pills and tar but everything is going to fent now and it's killing anyone not already deep in it. The ex who died used to get mountains of MS30 Contins for her Chrons since she'd already had a ton of her bowel removed and the rest was inconsistently stable.
@@TheOriginalFaxon yes, just consider rural areas where resources like addiction centers and social services are not available. Consider also the physical crimes that addicts commit to fuel their addictions. No, I have not met one fully functional (semi-functional, a few...at Jiffy Lube) opoiod addict. Not in over twenty years in the business. Have to say it, but that the functional ones stand out gives truth to the phrase "the exception proves the rule." Also, you're not realizing the massive collateral damage to families. The mothers or fathers entrapped with caretaking for an "adult child." The parents not being able to fully integrate socially because of their child still being "baggage." It just kills parents, especially retirees. The amount of domestic violence brought by opoiod addicts upon their families. The damage to children once a parent becomes an addict...incredible and indelible. The burden of law enforcement responding to criminal and non-criminal calls for service generated by addiction issues. The addicts you see at an addiction center are "top-tier" addicts, go to the streets and find the homeless, or couch hoppers, or the "failure to launch" addicts that are the vast majority. Oh, not since 2018 here, btw. Since 2001.
Grandson: You say that about everything, Gramps. Gramps: You callin' me a liar? Here, watch this Youstube vid and then smack yourself upside the head afterwards.
@@getmeoutofsanfrancisco9917 not really. Native Americans used it, but they couldn't procure enough to be addicted. Europeans started growing it and spread it around the world. People didn't even know to smoke other drugs until then. I still don't really get how it worked. If there were already opium dens then they already had the drug and the withdrawals from opium or heroin only last about a week. It's not that big of a deal, just stop smoking that weak mixture of morphine and codien. One use isn't going to make anyone an addict either. Just give it a month or two after you quit and you are back to normal.
@@Stephen85 I probably should have been more clear (not expecting this to turn semantical), but I was referring to the United States (and the previous colonies), as most casual uses of “America” (as an entity) refer to. Irregardless, tobacco was cultivated fairly extensively on a regional basis and widely used throughout the American continent, being a readily accepted trade item throughout. But of course supply depends on logistics. Not every region in the continent was able to accommodate tobacco cultivation . But in Mexico and the now American South, tobacco was a key agricultural commodity. Not to mention, it seems you are confusing addiction with dependence, which are two separate things. Dependence depends (npi) on consistent availability. Addiction doesn’t.
Too bad this episode didn't end with Ian saying "Tune into the next video where we'll take some Opium Cigarettes out on the range and see if they really are that bad." lol
This is really interesting. It's fascinating what tactics armies have tried over the years. That's why i think Vietnam is really interesting, not only is my dad a Vietnam vet but there were lots of new tech and experimental tech. Being tried by the US
It should be noted that opium was readily available in China at that time and IJA was lagging behind the local merchants in fraud. When KMT had opium addicted, they hadn't been smoking enemies cigar. Edited: Cannabis was commonly distributed in Japan until Gen Mac banned them including medicine. Opium cigars were also sold as 'asthma tobacco'
Chinese wrote it down also. Nearly all illegal fentanyl seized in the states (and yes, I was on the LEO side of the business) that's been traceable goes right to...PRC, that means China
Excellent episode! ... though i gotta wonder why the packaging was in English? brings on a new meaning to the ol "relax with a smoke" break back then! :D
The British Opium War was more about pure greed than any military strategy though. They went to war to continue selling opium; they didn't sell the opium to achieve a military objective. The Chinese only accepted silver for their goods, and Britain was running low on Silver, so they needed a way to get it. Solution, sell Opium to the Chinese in exchange for Silver, then use that Silver to buy the really wanted Chinese goods like silks, tea etc. I just wonder though, why didn't the Chinese just grow their own opium??
@꧁Mike Sully꧂ very true mike.. a very profitable means to an end. Do you now any good literature on the subject? I would love to now more about the whole thing. Such a complex matter.
Opium has a strong odor when smoked, in my wilder days I have tried smoking Afghan opium mixed with tobacco, and there is no way people would not notice it. Also it is a bad way to administer opium as a good part of the morphine will be burned (opium is about 10% morphine). That is why opium is smoked in pipes, by holding a piece of glowing charcoal near it, instead of touching it with a bare flame. So it is a stupid idea, you will smell the adulteration instantly, and the effect of smoking an opium laced cigarette will be minimal, one cigarette will not incapacitate you.
Japanese here, it's trivial but "emperor" is spelled "天皇" rather than a more generalized term "皇帝," and the former obviously still packs a lot of weight here especially among the spicy(also sour and salty :P) group of ppl... I can't help but to feel the author taking a cautious approach naming this book, possibly hoping to get it translated and distributed in Japan too haha
@@juliannestingray5948My dude, I'm pretty sure half the Japanese population have Rising Sun flags in their house and a shrine to Hiro Hito. Pretty much the last bastion of a homogenised society, I don't think they'd want to lose that.
@@alZiiHardstylez You probably meant to say, "homogenous" if I understood you right. I hope this doesn't seem like pompous scolding, cuz that's not my intention.
The basic knowledge I have about Opium tells me that it wouldn't burn properly in a cigarette. I'd be curious what to know what they did differently to make it work. 🤔 Good stuff Ian. I love this and will be buying this book for sure.
Madak (a blend of opium and tobacco) has been a recreational drug since 16th century china. So they had a process perfected for years beforehand. They’d boil hemp and opium and then mix that with tobacco and then dry it out.
So.. I have a somewhat extensive knowledge-base in this topic. Don't ask me why. The short answer is, yes it will work properly. Due to the same concept as how smoking (really anything) works. It won't be the most efficient method, but it absolutely will work. When you smoke something, you aren't actually getting any effect from what is combusted (ie. turned to smoke). Only what is vaporized is what is bioavailable. In other words, the smoldering cherry is essentially just a heat source and any alkaloids (like morphine, or nicotine) touching said cherry are being destroyed. But what is BEHIND the "cherry" is being vaporized, hence when you smoke anything you are in reality vaporizing it in a somewhat inefficient manner.
Smoking opium was very common in China but usually done with pipes. Raw opium was usually used rather than the more familiar refined opium extracts (Morphine, Codeine and Heroin) used in Western countries after 1880. Sherlock Holmes was an opium user in the early stories.
There's a reason why the general Chinese population has very strong opinion on psychoactive substances, even including prescribed medicines for mental disorders.
@@shawnr771 check out that nearly all fentanyl recovered by law enforcement in the States was produced in PRC. They may not be original or even fast learners, but they learn well.
@@shawnr771 you certainly have little knowledge on the nature of addiction, especially in a society where there are few repercussions to not being productive. Go get some education
@Shawn R Or alternatively the CCP is trying to weaken its greatest enemy from within? Thats the point he was making. The Chinese had to buy the opium too.
Wow, that's some really cool and very obscure history right there! I feel like that's something only a very small percentage of even WW2 historians knows about, so I feel like this video puts all of us on kind of the cutting edge of history about the War in the Pacific.
I can totally see Ian and Mark Hall-Patton wrapped in woolen blankets, next to a campfire in virginia, discussing how the army contemplated lacing just such blankets with the plague and hand them to the natives.
That's.a niche specialty topic! Love it. Opium has a very distinct taste. Smokers had to notice the difference between "opiated" cigarettes & regular ones. I don't doubt they were profitable but how much they really affected Chinese military operations - I'm skeptical there. After all, the Chinese had a major appetite for opium well before the Opium Wars (1840s).
Indeed. I take all of the stories about things being laced with other things to create addicts with a large sack of salt and of things being laced with other thing to incapacitate or pacify only slightly more seriously. Even if you are open to recreational drug use it doesn't mean you are going to enjoy every drug and certainly not if you're not expecting it. You'd think, correctly, that you had been poisoned or at least spiked and avoid the offending 'product' rather than seek it out. I can imagine that opium laced cigarettes would be the best thing since sliced char sui if you already had a taste for the stuff but otherwise... Nah... The side effects are bad enough when you have opiates for medical reasons. I have no doubt that spiking does occur with all manner of things but short of intending to kill the spikee with a quick(ish) acting poison it almost always causes more problems than it 'solves' and makes little to no logical sense.
@@AnthonyHandcock I'm sure they found their market. Most smokers wouldn't want the opiated ones. Not only the taste, but the smell would be obvious. Easily detected by NCOs & officers. So take the weapnization with a large grain indeed. Did it make a lot of money for crooked army officers? Sure.
The British dropped opium laced cigarettes during WW1 to great effect. First they dropped propaganda covered cigarette packs. The Ottomans just ignored the propaganda and smoked them. Then they dropped the opium ones, and took the city while everyone was sleepy.
The Japanese were not out to just get the Chinese hooked. During the 1930s, the Japanese government and military were deeply involved in the international drug trade. Prior to WWII, major shipments of heroin came to the US via the Japanese-occupied zones in China. The stuff was synthesized in Kobe, Japan, loaded in Shanghai, and shipped to New York via French ports. Louis (Lepke) Buchalter, better known as the boss of Murder Inc., ran the American end of the operation and was eventually tried and convicted for doing so.
I lived in Japan for 18 years and smoked Echo and Golden Bat pretty much the whole time. Golden Bat is of course still sold today. I have also been through the tunnels at Iwo Jima many times and have seen the personal items left behind by the Japanese troops. Some of them are match boxes and cigarette packs. This book sounds like a good read.
Thanks Ian. Just thinking that a more subtle but effective method would be to manipulate the news and social media platforms. Of course that would never happen in the US.
Wow! What a nostalgic feeling. I haven't smoked Opium in 49 years! Oh to be back in the day. Thanks Ian. So the Japanese were engaged in chemical warfare in more ways than one? The Japanese did give drugs to some of their troops. Most of us know that methamphetamine was given to troops, particularly the kamikaze group, just like the Germans did. But the idea of lacing cigarettes with Opium in WWII is predated by the British in WWI, when they fought the Ottoman Turks, I think this was around 1915. There was at least one incident where British troops provided a Turkish garrison loads of cigarettes that had been soaked in liquid opium. Two days later the garrison were totally incapacitated making for an easy British route. BTW one or two puffs of Opium will get you high to the point of incapacitation, but will not addict you unless you repeat your experiment. You've been warned
I’ve always wondered what Opium was like, I assume it would make you itch a lil bit and possibly get sick if you’re new to it kinda like morphine. But I imagine it’s also super relaxing and that a opium den would be a great way to relax
Seems improbable to me. How would the British soldiers have 'provided' opium-laced cigarettes to an enemy garrison during a war? If an enemy soldier walks up to you and says "Here, free cigarettes!" then of course you'd never smoke them. And you'd capture the enemy soldier. What possible interaction could have involved such an exchange between both sides? How would British troops in the Sinai desert or Palestine or Iraq or wherever this is supposed to have happened have had access to opium in the first place? The Japanese operation was organized at a high level and incorporated an extensive espionage and business network in order to acquire the drug, add it to cigarettes, ship it into enemy territory and sell it to the Chinese. How could a British army group of whatever size possibly have had the resources necessary to achieve such a result in the middle of a campaign?
@@off6848 Once, just once, it would be nice if you weekend warriors, and psuedo experts would refrain from muddying the waters with your incessant need for validation. Go stand in the corner and be quiet while the adults discuss the issue. You are wrong. Isn't there an NA meeting you should be attending? GSITCABQ
The thing is that opium genuinely really adds to tobacco, in terms of nice taste and taking the edge off the harshness of bad quality baccy. A brutal policy, mind you.
The excellent and spicy ww2 novels of Sven Hassel talked extensively about availability of opium laced cigarettes on the black market in the German Army. While those are hardly documentary grade, it and other sources suggest that there was availability. The use was as a currency as much as a drug and it was not state approved.
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Lets get this on a tray .....
Mmmmmkaaaay.......nice.
Nice hiss
... no hiss....
Decadent
.....mmnn...nice dry pull
Hello from Japan, Golden bat is indeed still on the market however it is not in the same form as it once was. See in Japan there was an age where cigarettes came in 3 classifications. those being 1st-3rd rate. 1st rate would be a more expensive brand usually sold by JT or Japan Tobacco in a higher quality cig and better presentation etc. (I believe some U.S brands like Marlboro fall under this category). Golden bat, along side other brands like echo were filter less but the tobacco used was light and mellow. This approach was because cigarette tax rates were based off of weight which is why golden bat and echo could sell a pack of 20 for around 40-50 yen and in pre 2019 they cost about 250 because of inflation. However, come 2019 the tax rate was increased for all cigarettes and kind of abolished the rating system which would have put echo and golden bat up to 1st rate price making it about 500 yen per pack. To get around this both echo and golden bat stopped making cigarettes and started making filtered cigars as they could then keep the price down to 250 as the regulations of cigars are different. Both golden bat and echo kinda have the same taste but honestly taste a little better since becoming cigars and of course they all have filters now. The only downside is golden bat is only sold in Hokkaido or on very rare occasions in a smoke shop that marks the price up to about 500-750 per pack. If you enjoy smoking and want something short but has a decent taste I recommend golden bat but honestly wakaba and echo both are good filtered cigars for a good price. Also cold smoke them, if you treat it like a normal cig it wont taste as good so treat it more like, well, a small cigar.
there's a lot of parallels there with the US cigarette market. Cigars are taxed differently so a lot of inexpensive brands like Ohm or 305 will wrap with a tobacco based paper to change their tax status, or since flavored cigarettes are banned brands like Djarum will do it to make clove cigarettes
ok now I really want to try some japanese smokes
can you even get them in the states?
@@ben-chan420 there are some grey market sites that sell imported cigarettes from various countries, or sometimes you can get them on military bases and at duty free stores.
Are the Golden Bat smokes and Golden Bat anime related at all?
Golden bat are with a strong coffee the breakfast of champions. If your lucky some of the ma and pa tobacco shops in the country have old stock . Now I know the full story, thanks. I was bummed when they just disappeared off the shelf.
"It's an empty box"
Ian, disappointed: "oh, okay..."
the question is whether it was empty before and after filming
Steve1989MREInfo got to review it first. Nice.
@@dmo530 bro don't say that... man has been missing too long and I'm getting worried. It could be he just has no content to cover, but as far as I've heard nobody has heard anything from him.
Next episode: "Now we take Golden Bat cigarettes to the range..." Of course cigarettes degrade badly with time and these would be like smoking cardboard.
@@Reinhard96 he runs a landscaping company so I imagine with the usual seasonal work he's probably also busy with more work from the couple hurricanes this year.
Hey Ian do you know what they would do to stop their own soldiers smoking them ? Considering that they tried to circulate them they were bound to be found by Japanese soldiers. I don’t think regular troops were told about it.
The Japanese planned to do this whole thing prior to the invasion, I'm assuming.
Bro, your gta 4 playthrough convinced me to watch the sopranos
Headstamp needs a book discussing the historic production of Molotov cocktails under Finland so we can cover both alcohol and explosives for Ian to check off his bingo sheet of publishing books to piss off the ATF
I will definitely include factory-made Molotovs in my Finnish book :)
I doubt they were made with alcohol. molotov cocktails are generally made with gasoline because it is (and even more so was) cheaper. I think it also burns a little hotter and might ignite better.
@@Ass_of_Amalek Gasoline and Diesel mixture. At least it is described that way in "The service in the (Austrian) Army" by Karl Ruef released in the 1970s. Interesting book about equipment and tactics for warfare in alpine regions. But unfortunately it's only available in German language, if you are able to find an example. Also gives a nice overview of their firearms and equipment at that time. From P38 over Sturmgewehr 58 (FN FAL) to MG 42/MG 74 and even MP 41 (PPSh-41).
@Semechki for Putin there's probably been more than a few made of just burning spirits, its still effective
@@Ass_of_Amalek somebody has to empty the bottles before you put the gasoline in though…
You would break the internet community of you were able to do a video with Steve1989. You both are such a calm and informative bunch. Thank you for brining the new generation knowledge
I would love to do that, but I have never been able to get him to talk to me. :(
@@ForgottenWeapons we shall restlessly post comments on his channel until he does :p
@@ForgottenWeapons That's really sad! I hope you keep trying. You and him would be a super awesom combo im pretty sure!
You need 70 years old japanese MRE.
Steve would have been game to smoke one of the cigarettes too. The normal ones not the opium ones.
Virgin Gun Collector: It’s too bad it’s illegal to put a reproduction stock on my Luger
Chad Cigarette Collector: Here’s a pack of smack smokes
Hey everything's legal when cops ain't around
@@kelteckin The only thing illegal is getting caught.
Or those guys who collect old ration kits that still have the government issue methamphetamine tablets in them
Smack smokes lol love it
😂smack smokes
Golden Bat smokes were on the market in Japan until at least 1979. That's the last year I saw them for sale. I smoked them for a couple of years. Of course they contained no opium. They were considered a smoke for poor country people, cranky oldsters, or young bohemians. I guess they still must be on the market in Japan, but I cannot figure out who'd smoke them. They were kind of like a filterless Lucky Strike or Camel.
Local native American owned tobacco shop near me carries the filterless luckies and camels.
They are a bit pricier than the normal cigarettes but I personally enjoy the taste of both brand's filterless cigarettes, I definitely think they get a better cut of tobacco myself.
Only smoke for less than a year and I still crave camel wides no filters. They taste better
I smoke filterless luckies and camels state side when I can find a good price for them, camels are better filterless than lucky strikes are if you want aromatics.
@@imadequate3376the fact that a non-filtered cigarette is more expensive than a filtered one is fubar. They went up in price when hipsters found them, I swear they used to be like 6-8 bucks a pack at one point
@@imadequate3376 When people buy them at the res by the carton and freeze them, are they still good later?
Stuff like this is why I absolutely love history. You wouldn’t think something as obscure as Japanese Imperial Tobacco would be so interesting until you actually look into it.
I agree, but not just history
opium in alcohol beverages was widely consumed in europe and US.
even COCA cola contained real cocaine.
Heroin in cough medicine and we gave it to children.
😅😅😅😅
That's why I spent a lot of time in the library as a kid. My mother says I read every non-fiction book they had. Visited my hometown 5yrs ago, pretty sad to see all those old books gone. Weren't bright shiny and new. They had all of Teddy Roosevelt's books, first editions, probably sold them for a quarter. Not to mention all the hunters and gun cranks books from 1920s-70s. Keith, O'Connor, Pope and Young too many to mention its depressing. A lot of that stuff isn't on the nets.
this isn't really history specific most things are interesting if you get in the weeds
@@baileyayyy5085 isn't history?
My grandpa passed away Friday afternoon and he was an absolute gunnut. little fuddy but so am I now and I don't care. Your videos have always made me feel so close to him, I'd send him links to my favorite ones and wed talk about guns and he'd tell me stuff only Ian and grandpa could know. And now I watch this videos with a lump in my throat but still feeling close to grandpa.
Sry about your Grandpa. Sounds like you're carrying on his interests. I have my Grandpa's hunting stuff. Glad to take care of it for him. Hopefully you can do the same too : )
My condolances. :)
@@akaroth7542 that's the plan and Thank you. I was lucky enough to take over a good bit of it before he passed and talk to him about a couple hunts that his gear went on.
@@kevanbrandvold1584 I'm glad he trusted you with it and you'll be able to pass it down : )
@@akaroth7542 the siblings, cousins and I will probably have to split up his personal effects but my grandpa left it up to my brother and I to help my Gramma and he always told us just make it fair, we know what means what and to who so if my brother cherishes something it's his and if one of my cousins who wasn't very close to him could use a latern or something or some camping gear or even a rifle he said let em have one. He gave me more in teachings and time given than any of those material possessions, it wasn't enough though. I don't think any amount could have been, but I could have stretched just a little more for an eternity if I had the chance.
Love it when Ian covers historical subjects instead of just guns
I’m a simple man, I see an Ian video, I click like.
Heck yes. He’s such a wonderful conveyor of history
I still think my favorite video of Ian is the one where a tour guide recognizes him in France and lets him take over the tour and give a lecture on the French mutinies of world war I
The name of the channel is forgotten weapons and certainly opium and the control of it is a weapon
@@user-dc1dr9kr8x I sure could go for one of those opium laced cigarettes right about now 😵💫
When you really, really want to develop brand loyalty.
I just can't stop smoking Golden Bats! It's almost like they're laced with smack or something.
Coca-cola
Now that's a forgotten weapon. My gosh the many faces and aspects of making war on the enemy. Well done Ian. Very interesting.
*Fentanyl has entered the chat*
@@WayStedYou fentanyl, the opium war uno reverse card
@@Ass_of_Amalek Oh my God, Youre right
Golden Bat cigarettes are still available in Japan. Now they have a little activated carbon section in the filter, like the old Lark cigarette brand.
Parliament 100's have charcoal filters too
That is a bond villain tier plot by the Japanese holy shit
@@Feroce Well the Brits were openly selling straight opium but kinda yes.
They weren't "just emulating the Brits" That's speculation. Don't give them excuses for their evil.
@@dk3062 If I recall there actually is quite a few instances of Japanese Imperialists in the 1880-1930 era explicitly stating that their goal was to emulate the British in becoming a colonial empire, and they certainly acted it out in their wars of expansion in that time. so it's more than speculation.
@@dk3062 lol what
except it actually worked. bond villains are always failures.
That spiked ammo story reminds me of the trap firewood story I heard a few years ago. This guy's grandfather was having issues with someone stealing his firewood one winter. Suspecting it was his neighbor, he commented on how the neighbors woodpile didn't seem to be shrinking, asked if they had gotten a smaller woodstove, a more efficient one, etc. The neighbor just brushed it off and the theft stopped for a while. Eventually the grandfather realized that his woodpile was shrinking faster again and decided enough was enough. He cut off the end of a small, unsplit piece of firewood, bored out the center, filled it with black powder and used the piece he'd cut off to form a plug that would blend in with the rings. He then put it back on the woodpile a few layers down so it would have a chance to weather before anyone would get to it. Sure enough, a few weeks later the piece was missing and a few days after that his neighbor's stove pipe beat the Russians into space. It also blew the door of the stove open and ejected most of it's contents.
Those big old cast iron stoves were really overbuilt. A modern stove would have probably grenaded.
Gotta give it to the man. Simple, but devastatingly effective.
One hell of a reaction to stealing wood. Straight up could’ve killed the neighbor and/or burned down his house. Not sure if I’m impressed, terrified, or both.
@@TheSporelord01 if you’ve ever had to chop your own firewood, you’d be protective of it too. I’m sure if the law knew, they’d have arrested him for making booby traps, which is very illegal. And there is always the chance the neighbor may want to retaliate with something equally horrible. But the moral of the story is, don’t be a thief.
@@TheSporelord01 seriously, could’ve actually tried to catch him in the act, or maybe put a bunch the coloring agents for smoke bombs in the in the wood so he could see the results without worrying about killing a guy.
certainly creative, but definitely an overboard response if you ask me. catch him and confront him, don’t try and kill the guy. yikes 😬
@@alphagt62 true, but maybe don’t be a vigilante either and just catch the dude in the act so you can turn him into the cops or something.“this was something as i mentioned in my above reply, he could have used the filling / coloring agent from colored smoke bombs or something. heck, i know a lot of copper based chemicals with burn green or blue. that would have caught the guy without possibly blowing him up.
2:15 "We see what those guys did, I'll bet we can do that, but better" is basically the national motto of Japan. The Japanese invented very few things on their own over the centuries, but they've probably _improved_ more things than any one other nation.
its usually more "we like what you have, lets modify it for our needs". A lot of their best inventions however are from the 20th century. My favorite is the Chindogu: pretty much the art of creating a gadget designed to solve one particular task well while also creating more problems.
I thought the killer golden bat was from a lab in Wuhan, China. Guess it was Japan who gave it to them in the first place...History is crazy.
If you work in the automotive industry they make everything different so nothing fits from one year to the next and everything rusts and corrodes after a few years ..if that's progress you can have it !
@Cancer McAids Of course sometimes the way they "improve" things is just by dialing it up to eleven, but that's usually more of a cultural thing than a technological one.
From my experience it went British/Americans invented it, Japanese improved on it (with couple notable exceptions like Czechoslovakian Jawa being copied by Honda into Super Cup). Japanese living outside of Japan are very productive when comes to inventions, so it must be for the most part cultural thing.
An opium laced cigarette sounds so good. They should keep making them.
I didn't think I would be interested in this topic; boy was I wrong. This is cool too. Now I want to know more. Thanks Ian!
I would enjoy Headstamp branching out a bit - this sort of thing, maybe a few books on vehicles - and even maybe general histories.
Vehicles would be great! I would love to see work on the less-covered vehicles like armored cars, tank destroyers, and rocket artillery like the Calliope.
My uncle was a senior NCO in MACV SOG, the reference to the C4 "performance enhanced" ammunition supplied to the Viet Cong makes me wonder, are there any books in print about those kinds of dirty tricks or specialized weapons? Perhaps somewhere out there there is a Vietnam vet or a historian with an unpublished manuscript.
That was called operation eldest son… Lots of information on the Internet
Just research " CIA manuals" and whatever details you wanna add
Several good books written by John Stryker Meyer, including "Across the Fence" and others.
@@thedolt9215 In March 1968 a SF Trooper told me to avoid VC ammo with black around the primer.
During the Malayan Emergency, the British gave their enemies, the CT, grenades that would explode instantly when the ring was pulled. Also guns that shot backwards. Killing the firer.
During WW2, the UK Spec Ops Excecutive, their version of the OSS. They got caught with dead rats filled with explosives. They also did that to coal.
Hey Ian, could you do a video on the rocket-propelled grappling hooks used during D-day at Pointe du Hoc? After looking at pictures of the cliffs I wanted to know how it was possible for the GIs to scale the cliffs and found reference to these grappling hooks. It’s very hard to find information about these on the internet. Also surprising, because grappling hooks are usually thought of as a joke, but we’re somehow effectively used there.
Doihara was sentenced to death and the hanging carried out in 1948.
The Japanese politician involved and basically ran the opium cigarette production plant was a guy named Naoki Hoshino and he was given a life sentence but released in the 50s and went on to be the president or chairman of several companies most notably the Tokyu Corporation which made electric rail cars.
My grandfather (born 1908) was stationed in China (navy). We had his opium pipe in our china cabinet when I was a kid. Unfortunately it got stolen during one of my high school parties. He was a career soldier (cpo), a hard ass and quite the partier from what Ive been told. Died in 1967 when I was a one year old of pancreatic cancer. Wish I had got to know him.
4:47 Ian giving the drug talk to his kids:
"You get the spicy cigarette and you wake up and realize you're addicted to opium "
Will we see an inrange test for these?
Lmao
Now I’m picturing some guy standing at a firing range in a shooting stance then pulling out a box of cigarettes instead of a pistol
This makes me think about the fentanyl problem in the US. Perhaps there's a similar intent from whoever's supplying it
It certainly places the effort to decriminalize various drugs in a different light. Almost like it's not a great idea...
You are on to something, wouldn't surprise me
The problems they are having with decriminalizing drugs arises from not also having a legal means of production. You just can't say it's ok now to have drugs and not have a system in place to produce as safe as can be expected drugs. When you do you have black market players who rush even harder to create a supply and you end up with a problem worse than before. Um, almost like politicians planned it that way wouldn't you say? The War on Drugs has been a complete failure and has done more to piss on our rights than probably anything else other than the so called Patriot Act. The WOD has gave us no knock warrants, helped usher in more firearm laws and a host of other things. It's time to say we tried it, we lost and time to try something else.
You don't know who is supplying it? CHINESE companies in CHINA where the communist gov't has an iron grip on what the people do so therin lies the responsible party. CHINA. Fool me once... Now it's China's turn.
Or it feels good, I Don't wanna be a wet blanket but
The disappointment when he finds out the box is empty 🤣
The amount of “wow” that Ian’s throwing out makes me think the box was full at the start of the video.
I honestly never knew this, and I consider myself a lot more educated on World War 2 history than the average person. Just goes to show you never stop learning, great video.
Funny thing. Back in the 70's up on the edge of the Golden Triangle in northeastern Thailand one of the main drivers of the illicit drug culture was the Thai stick marijuana which was bud sprayed with opiates and put on bamboo sticks. It was common for US servicemen to buy stereo equipment from the base exchange, remove the tubes and stuff them with Thai stick minus the stick then use epoxy to put them back together. The tubes were tested for air tightness then blanched in carbon tetra chloride to remove any odor. When personal belongings were shipped back to the states, so was the dope.
Considering what tobacco does to you, if you're going to get addicted to a poisonous drug, it might as well be one that has a real kick to it.
Yea opium is addictive but not physically very harmful to you. Addicts with a clean and pure source of morphine can live relatively normal and comfortable lives if they're able to support themselves financially and not let their use get in the way of their work (if they even need to work). This is why so many old people get piled with drugs you wouldn't see younger working people getting, due to the side effects addiction come with.
Tobacco? That shit will fucking kill you, and while it might not do it on the scale of a short modern war, it'll certainly keep you calm and focused through that war while you inhale other toxic shit that ultimately cumulatively kills you, just look at all the soldiers in the US dying from burn pits and exposure to other burning and toxic shit during wars in recent times. Add the most carcinogenic drug on the planet to that mix and you've got a great way to take out a nation's soldiers in their prime teaching years, when they'd be passing on everything they learned to the next generation of soldiers. Too bad we did it to ourselves this time, but given the significantly higher smoking rates in China to this day, I'd say it's still probably killing more of them than us. I doubt that was the original goal of tobacco exporters, as nobody had any idea it caused cancer back then, but I wouldn't put it past the US and Japan to have both encouraged China to smoke more so that it would kill them more. Hell, the CCP itself is probably encouraging it at this point due to their oncoming demographic crisis. The fewer old people they have to support the better, and they're cold hearted enough to let it happen all while green washing the rest of the economy in the interest of future generation's health, to look like they're doing something about the extreme cardiopulmonary cancer rates they've been experiencing due to both pollution and smoking
Tobacco itself isn't particularly bad, the heavy processing by cigarette companies to change the pH balance to one that can can be breathed in is more harmful.
Ever dealt with a morphine addict?
Idgit.
@@JD-tn5lz many, I worked in San Francisco for a number of years. Most were really chill and respectful, and only a handful were homeless. There was enough darkness near the register that you could always make the serious addicts by their pinned pupils and demeanor alone, as they bought their food and coffee. We were only a few blocks from prime heroin sales neighborhood. Lost a staff member to an OD in 2018, same year one of my ex girlfriends died the same way. Used to be just pills and tar but everything is going to fent now and it's killing anyone not already deep in it. The ex who died used to get mountains of MS30 Contins for her Chrons since she'd already had a ton of her bowel removed and the rest was inconsistently stable.
@@TheOriginalFaxon yes, just consider rural areas where resources like addiction centers and social services are not available. Consider also the physical crimes that addicts commit to fuel their addictions.
No, I have not met one fully functional (semi-functional, a few...at Jiffy Lube) opoiod addict. Not in over twenty years in the business.
Have to say it, but that the functional ones stand out gives truth to the phrase "the exception proves the rule."
Also, you're not realizing the massive collateral damage to families. The mothers or fathers entrapped with caretaking for an "adult child." The parents not being able to fully integrate socially because of their child still being "baggage." It just kills parents, especially retirees.
The amount of domestic violence brought by opoiod addicts upon their families.
The damage to children once a parent becomes an addict...incredible and indelible.
The burden of law enforcement responding to criminal and non-criminal calls for service generated by addiction issues.
The addicts you see at an addiction center are "top-tier" addicts, go to the streets and find the homeless, or couch hoppers, or the "failure to launch" addicts that are the vast majority.
Oh, not since 2018 here, btw. Since 2001.
That book cover is beautifully designed!
Ian's follow-up question... "So, did they make this in pipe tobacco, and where might I find some? For educational purposes only of course."
Next video: stoned Ian goes "WOOOOO DUUUDE"
@@mattthekiller9129next video: Ian smokes tobacco laced with fentanyl and gets narcaned 6 times on camera
@@DonnySimpanero Jesus christ lol
Nice! Very cool anything that takes a particular aspect of the war and dives in headfirst. Especially so niche.
“Let me tell you grandson, these golden bat cigarettes are nothing like they used to be back in the good old days”
Grandson: You say that about everything, Gramps.
Gramps: You callin' me a liar? Here, watch this Youstube vid and then smack yourself upside the head afterwards.
5:34 For a moment I was expecting you to say where we can buy a pack to try for ourselves
America: "We got people addicted to nicotine, even though smoking is really fucking bad for you"
Japan: "Hold my Sake"
Lol people have been addicted to nicotine long before "America/The US" was a thing.
@@getmeoutofsanfrancisco9917 It was a joke.
@@getmeoutofsanfrancisco9917 not really. Native Americans used it, but they couldn't procure enough to be addicted. Europeans started growing it and spread it around the world. People didn't even know to smoke other drugs until then. I still don't really get how it worked. If there were already opium dens then they already had the drug and the withdrawals from opium or heroin only last about a week. It's not that big of a deal, just stop smoking that weak mixture of morphine and codien. One use isn't going to make anyone an addict either. Just give it a month or two after you quit and you are back to normal.
@@baomao7243 And?..
@@Stephen85 I probably should have been more clear (not expecting this to turn semantical), but I was referring to the United States (and the previous colonies), as most casual uses of “America” (as an entity) refer to.
Irregardless, tobacco was cultivated fairly extensively on a regional basis and widely used throughout the American continent, being a readily accepted trade item throughout.
But of course supply depends on logistics. Not every region in the continent was able to accommodate tobacco cultivation . But in Mexico and the now American South, tobacco was a key agricultural commodity.
Not to mention, it seems you are confusing addiction with dependence, which are two separate things. Dependence depends (npi) on consistent availability. Addiction doesn’t.
Too bad this episode didn't end with Ian saying "Tune into the next video where we'll take some Opium Cigarettes out on the range and see if they really are that bad." lol
i really love the style of the covers on these books
just a little more addictive than normal cigs 😂
Not sure about that. Nicotine is more addictive than opiates so it would be like adding caffeine to heroin.
Bruce Wayne: "I'd like my Golden Bat cigarettes now Alfred."
Alfred the butler: "Very well sir."
This is really interesting. It's fascinating what tactics armies have tried over the years. That's why i think Vietnam is really interesting, not only is my dad a Vietnam vet but there were lots of new tech and experimental tech. Being tried by the US
It should be noted that opium was readily available in China at that time and IJA was lagging behind the local merchants in fraud. When KMT had opium addicted, they hadn't been smoking enemies cigar.
Edited: Cannabis was commonly distributed in Japan until Gen Mac banned them including medicine. Opium cigars were also sold as 'asthma tobacco'
Next episode: forgotten booze
that'd be the poison liquor the feds used during prohibition, right?
That'd do, or Tresckow's liquor gift
Starting with the venerable "3 Penis wine".
Another fun fact about Golden Bat cigarettes, the world's first moderns Super Hero was a Japanese character named after this brand.
British : * opium war*
Japanese : *WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN*
Chinese wrote it down also. Nearly all illegal fentanyl seized in the states (and yes, I was on the LEO side of the business) that's been traceable goes right to...PRC, that means China
Very interesting guys! And what a result for your kickstarter!
I want some opium cigarettes right now
@@kane357lynch Or Cocaine wine 🤤
@@kane357lynch TBF you can just get some coke and regular chewing gum.
@@JaykPuten exactly
Excellent episode! ... though i gotta wonder why the packaging was in English? brings on a new meaning to the ol "relax with a smoke" break back then! :D
Very intersting video. I would love to see a similar thing on the British weaponization of opium in the far east.
This is that. The british were in control here, and still are.
The British Opium War was more about pure greed than any military strategy though. They went to war to continue selling opium; they didn't sell the opium to achieve a military objective. The Chinese only accepted silver for their goods, and Britain was running low on Silver, so they needed a way to get it. Solution, sell Opium to the Chinese in exchange for Silver, then use that Silver to buy the really wanted Chinese goods like silks, tea etc.
I just wonder though, why didn't the Chinese just grow their own opium??
@꧁Mike Sully꧂ very true mike.. a very profitable means to an end. Do you now any good literature on the subject? I would love to now more about the whole thing. Such a complex matter.
Opium has a strong odor when smoked, in my wilder days I have tried smoking Afghan opium mixed with tobacco, and there is no way people would not notice it. Also it is a bad way to administer opium as a good part of the morphine will be burned (opium is about 10% morphine). That is why opium is smoked in pipes, by holding a piece of glowing charcoal near it, instead of touching it with a bare flame. So it is a stupid idea, you will smell the adulteration instantly, and the effect of smoking an opium laced cigarette will be minimal, one cigarette will not incapacitate you.
"Golden Bat" is also one of the first superheroes and has been part of Japanese media since the 1930s.
in a parallel universe this channel is called forgotten cigarettes, and this is a random video about guns
Fantastic history, very satisfactory
American CIA circa 1996 : we see your opium cigarettes and raise you crack-cocaine
Japanese here, it's trivial but "emperor" is spelled "天皇" rather than a more generalized term "皇帝," and the former obviously still packs a lot of weight here especially among the spicy(also sour and salty :P) group of ppl... I can't help but to feel the author taking a cautious approach naming this book, possibly hoping to get it translated and distributed in Japan too haha
probably, but i doubt Japanese gov't would sell a book about Imperial Japan
@@juliannestingray5948 you don't have to sell through japanese government, this is no china...
@@juliannestingray5948My dude, I'm pretty sure half the Japanese population have Rising Sun flags in their house and a shrine to Hiro Hito. Pretty much the last bastion of a homogenised society, I don't think they'd want to lose that.
@@alZiiHardstylez You probably meant to say, "homogenous" if I understood you right. I hope this doesn't seem like pompous scolding, cuz that's not my intention.
@@nessunodorme3888 Apologies. I was drinking milk at the time of writing.
I don't think the bat is a symbol of `luck` in China anymore. But seriously amazing video! So interesting!
The basic knowledge I have about Opium tells me that it wouldn't burn properly in a cigarette. I'd be curious what to know what they did differently to make it work. 🤔
Good stuff Ian. I love this and will be buying this book for sure.
I've smeared it on a cigarette paper and rolled it. These are probably dipped in opium or it's sprayed on the tobacco😎
I would assume it was processed in some way or another in order to work with this delivery method.
Madak (a blend of opium and tobacco) has been a recreational drug since 16th century china. So they had a process perfected for years beforehand. They’d boil hemp and opium and then mix that with tobacco and then dry it out.
So.. I have a somewhat extensive knowledge-base in this topic. Don't ask me why.
The short answer is, yes it will work properly. Due to the same concept as how smoking (really anything) works. It won't be the most efficient method, but it absolutely will work.
When you smoke something, you aren't actually getting any effect from what is combusted (ie. turned to smoke). Only what is vaporized is what is bioavailable. In other words, the smoldering cherry is essentially just a heat source and any alkaloids (like morphine, or nicotine) touching said cherry are being destroyed. But what is BEHIND the "cherry" is being vaporized, hence when you smoke anything you are in reality vaporizing it in a somewhat inefficient manner.
Smoking opium was very common in China but usually done with pipes. Raw opium was usually used rather than the more familiar refined opium extracts (Morphine, Codeine and Heroin) used in Western countries after 1880.
Sherlock Holmes was an opium user in the early stories.
That was cool Ian. Very impressed.
How about a book on the odd medicine supplements issued to troops over the years. I've heard the Germans where given speed what else was issued?
Time Ghost History WW2 channel delved into this topic.
I could go for a couple of these right now
There's a reason why the general Chinese population has very strong opinion on psychoactive substances, even including prescribed medicines for mental disorders.
Started long before WW2.
Check out the Opium Wars.
@@shawnr771 check out that nearly all fentanyl recovered by law enforcement in the States was produced in PRC. They may not be original or even fast learners, but they learn well.
@@JD-tn5lz and?
The only reason it is here because people are buying it.
@@shawnr771 you certainly have little knowledge on the nature of addiction, especially in a society where there are few repercussions to not being productive.
Go get some education
@Shawn R Or alternatively the CCP is trying to weaken its greatest enemy from within? Thats the point he was making. The Chinese had to buy the opium too.
When I saw the thumbnail i honestly read "Gopher Bait" I couldn't help but laugh at the thought what a perfect name for a weaponized cigarette
Wow, that's some really cool and very obscure history right there! I feel like that's something only a very small percentage of even WW2 historians knows about, so I feel like this video puts all of us on kind of the cutting edge of history about the War in the Pacific.
Ian be like "Were these every cigarette in the package? Were they mixed in...? Where can I find some? What?"
This is surprisingly fascinating and Patrick seems very passionate about the subject.
Arguably the deadliest weapon featured on the channel.
Great follow up vid thanks Ian.
The Chinese sure have bad luck with bats...
Too soon?
I can totally see Ian and Mark Hall-Patton wrapped in woolen blankets, next to a campfire in virginia, discussing how the army contemplated lacing just such blankets with the plague and hand them to the natives.
Blankets used by smallpox and measles patients were given away thus by immigrants in early North America and also Australia.
That's.a niche specialty topic! Love it.
Opium has a very distinct taste. Smokers had to notice the difference between "opiated" cigarettes & regular ones. I don't doubt they were profitable but how much they really affected Chinese military operations - I'm skeptical there. After all, the Chinese had a major appetite for opium well before the Opium Wars (1840s).
Indeed. I take all of the stories about things being laced with other things to create addicts with a large sack of salt and of things being laced with other thing to incapacitate or pacify only slightly more seriously.
Even if you are open to recreational drug use it doesn't mean you are going to enjoy every drug and certainly not if you're not expecting it. You'd think, correctly, that you had been poisoned or at least spiked and avoid the offending 'product' rather than seek it out.
I can imagine that opium laced cigarettes would be the best thing since sliced char sui if you already had a taste for the stuff but otherwise... Nah... The side effects are bad enough when you have opiates for medical reasons.
I have no doubt that spiking does occur with all manner of things but short of intending to kill the spikee with a quick(ish) acting poison it almost always causes more problems than it 'solves' and makes little to no logical sense.
@@AnthonyHandcock I'm sure they found their market. Most smokers wouldn't want the opiated ones. Not only the taste, but the smell would be obvious. Easily detected by NCOs & officers. So take the weapnization with a large grain indeed. Did it make a lot of money for crooked army officers? Sure.
The British dropped opium laced cigarettes during WW1 to great effect.
First they dropped propaganda covered cigarette packs. The Ottomans just ignored the propaganda and smoked them. Then they dropped the opium ones, and took the city while everyone was sleepy.
@@HALLish-jl5mo Coming up next on "Things That Never Happened".
Gotta love how these videos feel like 08 09 quality. especially the audio. Like literally it’s nostalgic lol
The Japanese were not out to just get the Chinese hooked. During the 1930s, the Japanese government and military were deeply involved in the international drug trade. Prior to WWII, major shipments of heroin came to the US via the Japanese-occupied zones in China. The stuff was synthesized in Kobe, Japan, loaded in Shanghai, and shipped to New York via French ports. Louis (Lepke) Buchalter, better known as the boss of Murder Inc., ran the American end of the operation and was eventually tried and convicted for doing so.
I lived in Japan for 18 years and smoked Echo and Golden Bat pretty much the whole time. Golden Bat is of course still sold today. I have also been through the tunnels at Iwo Jima many times and have seen the personal items left behind by the Japanese troops. Some of them are match boxes and cigarette packs. This book sounds like a good read.
Now that's what i call a "Relaxing" smoke rite there...
Thanks Ian. Just thinking that a more subtle but effective method would be to manipulate the news and social media platforms. Of course that would never happen in the US.
That's some super evil villain plot stuff.
Wow! What a nostalgic feeling. I haven't smoked Opium in 49 years!
Oh to be back in the day. Thanks Ian.
So the Japanese were engaged in chemical warfare in more ways than one? The Japanese did give drugs to some of their troops. Most of us know that methamphetamine was given to troops, particularly the kamikaze group, just like the Germans did. But the idea of lacing cigarettes with Opium in WWII is predated by the British in WWI, when they fought the Ottoman Turks, I think this was around 1915. There was at least one incident where British troops provided a Turkish garrison loads of cigarettes that had been soaked in liquid opium. Two days later the garrison were totally incapacitated making for an easy British route.
BTW one or two puffs of Opium will get you high to the point of incapacitation, but will not addict you unless you repeat your experiment. You've been warned
Wow I would love to hear about your opium smoking days as I haven't smoked opium except for a few summers
@@bradpnw1897 Everythings in my autobiography.
I’ve always wondered what Opium was like, I assume it would make you itch a lil bit and possibly get sick if you’re new to it kinda like morphine. But I imagine it’s also super relaxing and that a opium den would be a great way to relax
Seems improbable to me. How would the British soldiers have 'provided' opium-laced cigarettes to an enemy garrison during a war? If an enemy soldier walks up to you and says "Here, free cigarettes!" then of course you'd never smoke them. And you'd capture the enemy soldier. What possible interaction could have involved such an exchange between both sides? How would British troops in the Sinai desert or Palestine or Iraq or wherever this is supposed to have happened have had access to opium in the first place? The Japanese operation was organized at a high level and incorporated an extensive espionage and business network in order to acquire the drug, add it to cigarettes, ship it into enemy territory and sell it to the Chinese. How could a British army group of whatever size possibly have had the resources necessary to achieve such a result in the middle of a campaign?
@@off6848 Once, just once, it would be nice if you weekend warriors, and psuedo experts would refrain from muddying the waters with your incessant need for validation. Go stand in the corner and be quiet while the adults discuss the issue.
You are wrong. Isn't there an NA meeting you should be attending?
GSITCABQ
This is brilliant. I just found this channel, I subbed.
My man Patrick Philips looking like Daniel Radcliffe if he went to basic training instead of Hogwarts 😂😂😂 great content guys!
Very good graphic design. I wouldn't mind a box of these. I mean, the box alone.
And now the same thing is being done to us. Though TicTic, fentanyl, and wokeism.
Nearly all traceable fentanyl recovered by LEO is produced in the PRC...communist China. I actually never saw any that wasn't.
golden bat, the first superhero ever conceptualized in 1930 by suzuki ichiro and takeo nagamatsu, was named after these smokes.
Very calm vibes- nice vid!!!
The thing is that opium genuinely really adds to tobacco, in terms of nice taste and taking the edge off the harshness of bad quality baccy. A brutal policy, mind you.
Wow, the book cover looks AMAZING! I always judge a book by its cover, and that's one cover that would DEFINITELY make me buy that book!
The way that this video is framed makes it look like I’m about to witness an execution
Golden Bat was the first 'Superhero' to exist and is almost forgotten, there are videos on the anime and films about him on youtube.
I want to see Ian on the range in his smoking jacket smokin a japanese opium cigarette while dual wielding chinese mystery pistols
"I bet you're wondering how I got here. It's a long story."
I cant imagine smoking one of the laced ones and not noticing the taste difference alone...
WW2 adventures with drugs is a whole book on its own
Beautiful book cover!
Golden Bat is also the name of perhaps the oldest superhero commited to video and manga, Kenny Lauderdale did a video on that.
2:00 - "I've gotta say, this sounds like ..." the contemporary Fentanyl crisis ?
Golden Bat was sold in Japan until recently, but finally discontinued.
The thing about opium is when you smoke it you know it. You would notice very quickly something was up with this cigarette.
Excellent! Unique and many thanks gentlemen!
"if we hit our next stretch goal we will be remaking a batch of golden bat cigarettes, one pack included with every kickstarter edition!"
The excellent and spicy ww2 novels of Sven Hassel talked extensively about availability of opium laced cigarettes on the black market in the German Army. While those are hardly documentary grade, it and other sources suggest that there was availability. The use was as a currency as much as a drug and it was not state approved.