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Japanese personal effects: what the heck is this stuff?


thebearpack
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thebearpack

A while back I bought a grouping from a vet's son that centered around a nice IBM carbine. The vet was with the 806th Tank Destroyers and was lucky enough to get deployed at the end of the war. I don't think he saw action but am not sure where he got this stuff. There was more to his collection if remember the story correctly (Japanese rifles, bayonets, etc.) but those were long gone. Anyway, this stuff (as well as some more common items I can identify) came with the carbine I was able to buy. Does anyone have any clue what any of it is? Thanks in advance.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
thebearpack

Thanks Patriot. It could certainly be an ink pot of some kind. The two little figures were/are inside it and they strike me as some sort of good luck charm or momento of family, but that's just a guess. And of course there's no telling if they were always in there or just stored there by whoever picked it all up.

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The red item with silver script is a religious item something akin to a Catholic Scapula except carried instead of worn. I believe these items are held between the hands while praying. I'm going to further guess that the two piece amulet with the small icons is also a religious symbol, probably a gift from the family. The leather pouch looks like a private purchase item used for carrying personal papers.

It's been a long time so someone else might have better info.

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thebearpack

Thanks rr01. Prayer items makes a lot of sense. I wonder if this vet traded for these items from someone who was in theater during the war then. Doesn't seem likely that these would be things a returning Japanese soldier would part with easily.

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Thanks rr01. Prayer items makes a lot of sense. I wonder if this vet traded for these items from someone who was in theater during the war then. Doesn't seem likely that these would be things a returning Japanese soldier would part with easily.

I'm not familiar with this unit only because I have not studied them but two schools of thought:

1~Post campaign souvenir stand. Once the slaughter was complete in some place like the Phillipines the local populace would offer for sale items scavanged from the bodies. Well into the '80s WWII uniform items were still available because in many places the bodies were left unburied, never buried subject to carrion and weather.

2~Post war Occupation. The Japanese were so poor immediately after the war that they sold just about everything they owned just to survive. Though conditions rapidly improved this continued well into the late '50s with goods and services remaining cheap by American standards until around '71/'72.

Your posting also explains why the family names are different on these pieces; he probably picked through a pile of stuff for what interested him.

Thanks for making this interesting.

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thebearpack

I'm not familiar with this unit only because I have not studied them but two schools of thought:

1~Post campaign souvenir stand. Once the slaughter was complete in some place like the Phillipines the local populace would offer for sale items scavanged from the bodies. Well into the '80s WWII uniform items were still available because in many places the bodies were left unburied, never buried subject to carrion and weather.

2~Post war Occupation. The Japanese were so poor immediately after the war that they sold just about everything they owned just to survive. Though conditions rapidly improved this continued well into the late '50s with goods and services remaining cheap by American standards until around '71/'72.

Your posting also explains why the family names are different on these pieces; he probably picked through a pile of stuff for what interested him.

Thanks for making this interesting.

 

I also have a native-made bamboo mat that says "806th Tank Destroyers, Luzon" that he brought back so it definitely makes sense that these items could have been bought as souvenirs from there as well. Both of your scenarios seem plausible to me, though both are somewhat sad: for whatever reason, these items feel a little "darker" (for lack of a better word) than the captured bring back firearms I own. Probably because they're more personal and more closely connected to their original owners than a government-issued weapon would be.

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I also have a native-made bamboo mat that says "806th Tank Destroyers, Luzon" that he brought back so it definitely makes sense that these items could have been bought as souvenirs from there as well. Both of your scenarios seem plausible to me, though both are somewhat sad: for whatever reason, these items feel a little "darker" (for lack of a better word) than the captured bring back firearms I own. Probably because they're more personal and more closely connected to their original owners than a government-issued weapon would be.

How you now feel is wholly appropriate and in line with my own personal feelings along those same lines.....but we live in a time different from when those items were brought back when feelings were much more raw. As an example, immediately following the attack at Pearl Harbor my Grandfather took all my Mother's Japanese made toys and destroyed every one of them. Our parents transcended the prejudices of that time and raised families able to appreciate that part of our history while moving forward beyond those earlier prejudices. Those particular items have a name to them but what you have recently found out doesn't really change their significance in the context of the whole collection.

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Brian Dentino

I would have to say that there was a brisk trade in both the Pacific and ETO theaters in the souvenir trade between the "front line" and the rear echelon types. A friend of mine in the 82nd made quite the haul trading off German helmets, patches, etc. to those in the rear.....especially supply depot guys (especially for smokes).......he figured he could always get more when he went "back up". How else would a Navy man in England the whole war end up with helmets, bayos, swords, medals/badges, etc.

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