WW2 Japanese Army & Navy Officer's Private Purchase Leather Belt 16.7 July 1941

This is an extremely high quality, thick, russet color leather belt with single prong buckle. This belt is maker marked on the back and is dated 16.7 Showa, which is July 1941 pre-dating Pearl Harbor. Leather is 42 inches long with 1st hole for buckle prong at 30.5 inches. Like most Japanese belts, these were designed to be worn with overcoats for winter operations in China. As you may be aware, Japanese army & navy officers, like officers in many countries were required to buy much of their own clothing and equipment. This leather belt would have been worn around the waist of an army or navy officer to hold onto his Nambu holster. These waist belts were all so used to hold down the straps of the mapcase, binocular case, canteen & other shoulder strap carried equipment. This was worn to prevent equipment from flapping around while the officer was moving.