Kichohinbukuro (Valuables bags)

These bags were used for a soldier’s valuables. The one I have is much smaller than a hokobukuro. This one is about 11.5cm wide by 15cm high (4.5” X 6”). The characters down the centre say ki-cho-hin-bukuro, “bag for valuables”. The shaded star is the symbol of the Imperial Japanese Army. The Navy used an anchor. The cord is very long, about 60cm (two feet). This leads me to believe it was made so that the owner could wear it around his neck if he needed to.

The writing on the back is very faint, but indicate the owner’s name, company and squad.

Here it is in close-up. The two printed characters across the top are easy: shi-mei (name). The right column has some printed characters that are easily leible and some handwritten ones that are not. After a great deal of squinting under different light conditions, I established that the right column says: dai-go-chu-tai-dai-ip-pan, meaning “Company five, squad one”. The name in the right column is the hardest of all to read. The surname is Sakamaki. The given name is something-taro, possibly Kamataro. About all I can be sure of with respect to the first character of the three in the given name is that it is based on radical 149 (metal).

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Last updated: October 16, 2004. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.