Diving Helmet

Osaka - Japanese Diving Helmet

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This Osaka antique Japanese diving helmet sold on eBay on 25 April 2011 for US$2,550. There was keen interest from 5 bidders. The seller's id was armasintincjp, located in Aichi, Japan, with really positve feedback after 5012 eBay trades.

We don't know much about antique diving helmets from Japan. The seller claimed that Osaka is the rarest make of Japanese diving helmets. Other Japanese manufacturers include Toa - being the most common, followed by Yokohama and then somewhat rarer the Kimura.

It is common for eBay sellers to exaggerate their item description and in this case it was claimed that "the Osaka is the rarest Japanese diving helmet with less than a hundred ever made".

We are sceptical of this claim, but cannot dispute it because obtaining information on antique Japanese diving helmets is difficult given their historical nature and language difficulties.

The seller has aged the Osaka diving helmet as "most likely from the mid Showa period - 1950s".

We find it very interesting that this helmet is almost identical to the Toa - being the typical Japanese diving helmet.

If you have any information on diving helmets and historical diving then we'd like to hear from you, so please email us using the contact us form on this website.