I have seen Chinese (KMT) soldiers (and a mixture of US soldiers) photographed holding this weapon placed on their upper-thigh – but never any Soviet Red Army soldiers. This would imply this story originates in the US Army and was shared by its Chinese (KMT) Allies (now ensconced in Taiwan). The justifying explanation is that due to a “grammatical” error in the original Japanese language User Manual – it is suggested that the Type 89 Mortar should be fired from the upper-leg. Why would this be case? Who could “read” this manual? I doubt the average American or Soviet soldier could read Japanese text. Sometimes, and depending upon the type of Japanese text used, a Chinese person might be able to read some of the instructions, but even then this would be haphazard and unreliable. After-all, who bothers to read the text when there are clear instructional pictures available? As you can see from the above pictures, the Imperial Japanese soldier is shown clearly using the Type 89 Mortar whilst it is placed firmly upon the ground! Therefore, this story is either a racist myth – a product of misunderstanding – or perhaps an element of both.
