Japan's Weaponized WW2 Opium Cigarettes

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Patrick Phillips is back with me today to discuss the very real Japanese tactic of smuggling opium-laced cigarettes into China in an effort to undermine Chinese military resistance to Japanese invasion...

[seangannon]

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.

[cpcrook]

"It's an empty box"

Ian, disappointed: "oh, okay..."

[theprofessional]

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.

[testpleaseignore]

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

[hitomarusensha]

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.

[oldpain]

An opium laced cigarette sounds so good. They should keep making them.

[zawzawaung]

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.

[thgraemek]

Love it when Ian covers historical subjects instead of just guns

[fratricidefrank]

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

[edwardzpad]

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.

[dhawthorne]

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.

[mkylg]

Now that's a forgotten weapon. My gosh the many faces and aspects of making war on the enemy. Well done Ian. Very interesting.

[donjones]

When you really, really want to develop brand loyalty.

[Bacteriophagebs]

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.

[kevanbrandvold]

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.

[leebatt]

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.

[maxkennedy]

That is a bond villain tier plot by the Japanese holy shit

[G.M.]

in a parallel universe this channel is called forgotten cigarettes, and this is a random video about guns

[chipsdubbo.]

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 "

[JMorris]

The amount of “wow” that Ian’s throwing out makes me think the box was full at the start of the video.