WW2 Japanese Army Infantry Bird Sake Bottle

As well as the embossed figure sake bottles, a few specialty military bottles were made for those who were more flashy in their tastes. One would think that the gaudy or really amazingly different items would not appeal to the traditional Japanese sensibility, but of course in every culture and society there are people with a wide variety of thoughts, tastes, and expressions of the same. So here is a bottle that does not appeal to most modern Japanese, or at least those to whom I have shown it. The most common reaction upon seeing it is dasai, which may be translated as unpleasant or unattractive.

Here it is:

As you can see, it is a bird-shaped tokkuri. What is really interesting about this bottle (in addition to its shape) is that it is a whistling bottle. The removable head is not a separate sake cup; it is a whistling cap. One takes the head off, puts the sake in the bottle, replaces the head, and pours. The sake comes out of the beak, and a gentle chirping comes out of the back tuft of feathers.

This particular bottle was given to an infantryman. Here is a close-up of the painted design on the bird’s breast:

A large gold Army star has been painted on. The inscription reads ‘13th Infantry, Yoshizono.’ And a famous poem that is often found on Japanese military items: ‘Your body is lighter than a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain. Do your duty and you can return home and enjoy the blossoms.’

The last pictures shows the bottom of the bottle, which has a trademark stamp. You can also see inside the head. The circular device is the whistle.

Japanese WW2 era Molded Design Sake Bottles part 2

As I mentioned in my last post, the embossed figures on military sake bottles can either be the main design or complement the painted design. This next bottle is a good example of the latter.

The only embossed figures on this bottle are the painted Army star and some decoration around the neck. This is a China Incident commemorative bottle.

The second bottle shows how the embossed figures can stand alone without a painted figure or being painted.

Here the name of the soldier (Yamamoto) is in red, but there is no other paint applied. The embossed figures are enough to make this impressive. I have seen the same designed bottle with paint applied to the star and branches, though, and another with a small painted design applied to the open space beneath the flags. So I think that the buyer requested this to be a simpler version. Here is the reverse (or perhaps obverse, I cannot tell):

Here, too, the lack of paint does not make this less visually appealing. In fact, the airplane stands out more without the colorful distractions. The inscription reads ‘Discharge Commemorative.’

Japanese WW2 era Molded Design Sake Bottles

Some of the most interesting military commemorative items from Japan are the decorated sake bottles, called tokkuri (徳利) in Japanese. You can see a variety of designs on my Imperial Japan Sake Cups website, but I’d like to take a few posts to examine some of the embossed designs on these bottles.

Of course, a variety of images and designs were painted on bottles after they were manufactured, and these are really spectacular when done well. But some of the designs have been embossed onto the bottle and are part of the mold.  Today I’ll show two examples. The first is a discharge commemorative bottle and the main design is probably the painted battle flag and cherry tree.

However, complementing this painted design are embossed figures. On the obverse is a plane, gun, and anti-aircraft artillery. The reverse:

Here we have more images: a plane, warship, and tank. And a bullet-shaped area within which the inscription is written. So on this bottle the embossed figures are important but they seem to be secondary to the painted design.

This next bottle has a large embossed and painted cannon, so this figure is obviously the most important.

The embossed decoration above and below the cannon highlight it nicely.The reverse is here:

The embossed designs here frame the inscription which, though not visually impressive, is quite important: ‘Artillery, 5th Regiment, Discharge Commemorative.’

WW2 era Manchukuo Enamel Star Commemorative Plaque

Today will be the last Manchukuo 5-colored star entry for a while; this item is a paperweight or a plaque.

Here, too, is a gold Army star and an anchor in addition to the Manchukuo star. The presence of these figures would suggest that the item is related to a military association even without the inscription. But we have an inscription as well: ‘Manchuria Soldier Relief Association, Special Merit Member.’

The two holes appear to be meant for a string of some sort, so this is probably a decorative plaque. However, if the strings were ornamental, it is possible that this is a paperweight. This was probably given to new members or to members who donated a certain amount of money.

The Manchukuo Enamel Star and Flag

I have shown three different badges with the 5-colored enamel star of Manchukuo. There are more badges of this type, but it is worth a post to remind (or inform) everyone about why those colors were chosen. They are the 5 colors used on the Manchukuo flag (1932-45). Here it is:

Yellow is the main color, dominating the field. This represents the Manchu people. Red represents the Japanese, blue the Han Chinese, white the Mongols, and black the Koreans. Read more about it in the Wikipedia article HERE.

In the enamel star each color occupies the same amount of space, but perhaps the order is significant. Yellow is at the top as it should be for a Manchukuo badge. The two on the sides are Japanese and Korean, and the two bottom ones are the Mongols and the Han. Does this represent a Manchukuo world order? Or was this arrangement merely aesthetically pleasing?

Manchukuo Enamel Star SOLDIER RELIEF BADGE

Another enamel star badge from Manchukuo.  This one is the Manchuria Soldier Relief Association Special Merit member badge, and it is quite an impressive item. I’m not sure exactly who received this badge, but it is probable that people who donated a large sum of money to the association got it. And perhaps upper officials in the group, but that’s just a guess.

A gold Army star is affixed to the enamel star. On either side are sorghum branches, a symbol of Manchukuo, and at the top is a symbol of Japan, the cherry blossom.

The reverse:

WW2 era Manchukuo Enamel Star Pilot Badge

In my last post I showed a Manchukuo Army 5-pointed colored star on some kind of badge. Today, too, I would like to show that star on a badge, but this badge is easier to identify. It is an Army Pilot badge, obviously modeled on the Japanese Army Pilot badge.

The IJA version has a gold (brass) star in the center, replaced by the colored star in the Manchukuo version. Since the IJA badge was given to Japanese pilots, I imagine that pilots in the Manchukuo Air Force received this badge. However, it is possible that some Japanese pilots who were stationed in Manchukuo could have received this as well.

The reverse is similar to the IJA badge, with a wide pin back:

WW2 Manchukuo Enamel Star Badge part 2: the box

In my previous post I showed you a Manchukuo badge, and today I’d like to show you the cardboard box it came in. The box itself is not visually impressive, but it has both the number of the badge (43, also stamped on the reverse of the badge) and the maker’s name: ‘Made by Mori Yoko.’ Here are two pictures, front and back of the box:

Above the number 43 is the word ‘badge (kishou 徽章).’ Also something written in pencil that I cannot make out. Anyway, we know who made the badge, which is valuable information. The name Mori Yoko [strictly speaking, Youkou is more correct, but...] is obviously Japanese, so one would expect this to have been made in Japan. In a sense it was; however, it was physically made in China by Japanese craftsmen. Here is Mori Yoko’s storefront circa Showa 10 [1935]:

It was located in Wuhan (武漢市), the capital of Hubei Province. A brief history of this jeweler: Established in 1921 and continued under this name until 1945. Driven out of China because of the war’s end, it was re-established in Nagasaki in 1959 under the name of Mori Pearl Corporation, dealing in imports from China. It still exists as of this writing and seems to be still under family management since the current representative’s name is Mori, too.

WW2 era Manchukuo Enamel Star Badge

While the Imperial Japanese Army had a plain 5-pointed star as its emblem, the Manchukuo Army had a 5-pointed star with each point being a different color. This colored star was used on the Army caps and on a variety of badges, some unofficial. Here is a good example:

This badge, though, does not seem to be related entirely to the Army because of the anchor. Most likely this was a military relief organization or more probably a veteran/reservist group badge. The reverse looks like this:

A simple pin back with a stamped number. It doesn’t look to be an award of any sort, so my guess is that it’s a member badge for a Manchukuo military-related organization.

Manchukuo Bayonet Skills WW2 IJA Badge

Today’s badge is quite interesting. First the obverse:

The design has a kanji for ‘Prize (Shou 賞)’ at the top so we know this is an award of some sort. The center design has a kendo (Japanese swordfighting) mask, but neither of the two figures behind it are swords. One is a rifle and another is a rifle shape with a circular object on the tip. This indicates that the skills practiced here are not swordfighting skills but bayonet skills. The former is called kendo (剣道) and the latter jukendo (銃剣道), the kanji  ju prefixed to the other two meaning ‘gun.’

Kendo is still quite popular here in Japan and abroad, being one of the traditional martial arts. However, one may be surprised to learn that jukendo is also being practiced in Japan here today, although it is a minor and relatively unknown sport. You can see the short Wikipedia article HERE and if you’d like to see the All-Japan Jukendo Federation page, click HERE.

Back to the badge: The figure below the mask is the insignia for the Manchuria Railroad Defense Unit. Two crossed rifles superimposed on a rail. These were IJA units stationed in Manchuria and assigned to defend the railways.

The reverse:

The design is rather plain, having just an inscription. It reads ‘Kantou-shou 間島省, Yanji 延吉 [City], Moribe Unit　森部隊.’  (Moribe is a family name and designates the commander of a unit.) I placed the first term in italics since this is the Japanese reading of a Manchukuo province that of course no longer exists. Now the area is called Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, and though located in China is mostly populated with Koreans.

So this badge was given to a winner in a jukendo competition held within the Moribe Unit, or perhaps the competition was between different units and the Moribe Unit gained a prize, each contributing member receiving a badge.