"Dai Nippon Defense Women's Association / 大日本国防婦人會 / Nippon kokubō fujin kai"

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

Another women association : "Dai Nippon Defense Women's Association ".

 

"Kokubo Fujinkai" or  "Kokufu"  was a Japanese women's organization that existed from 1932 to 1942. 

 

国防婦人会 - Wikipedia

 

some excerpt :

 

In March 1932, Sei Yasuda and Eiko Mitani, housewives living in Ichioka, near the port of Osaka , played a central role, including Soten Oe of the Osaka Asahi Shimbun, the Chief of the Ichioka Police Station, and a member of the Military Police Special High School who became close to each other after seeing off the port. It was formed as the 'Osaka National Defense Women's Association' with the cooperation of After that, with the strong support of the military, in October of that year, the 'Greater Japan Defense Women's Association' was formed.

The number of members increased rapidly through branch meetings based on residences and workplaces, and branch meetings were established throughout the country . It became a large organization surpassing Rengo Women's Association ( affiliated with the Ministry of Education , 1931-1942, abbreviated Renfu). In December 1940 , the National Women's General Headquarters had 9,052,932 members . 

Kokufu was merged with the parallel women's groups, Aifu and Renfu, to form ' Dainihon Fujinkai ' (1942 - 1945, abbreviated as Nichifu). .

 

Kokufu had a slogan, "National defense starts in the kitchen."

In the early days of Kokufu, women would leave the kitchen in their kappo clothes and go out into the streets to carry out various ``national defense'' activities.

Seeing off expeditionary soldiers

Support for family members who are away

Reception of wounded soldiers and remains

Procurement and delivery of comfort bags

Laundry in barracks and military hospitals

air defense exercises

 

There are many badges here is a red one :

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

 

 

[JapanX]

1 hour ago, No one said:

There are many badges ... 

 

 

Well, that's putting it mildly https://asiamedals.info/forums/greater-japan-national-defense-womens-association.662/

 

Regarding the history of Association https://asiamedals.info/threads/history-and-badges-of-greater-japan-national-defense-womens-association.24021/

 

Best,

Nick

 

[No one]

Dear JapanX,

 

I had no idea there were so many, thank you for the link.

I think mine is the 4th variation Miyazaki workshop.

Is/was this workshop in the city / prefecture of Miyazaki or is it a family name? Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

 

 

[JapanX]

Family name.

 

Regards,

Nick

[No one]

Dear JapanX,

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[TracA]

…and an example of a Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association sash from Kyoto. 

 

The sash is of a white linen-like cloth and is approximately 92.25 cm long and 6.7 cm wide. The true width of the sash is actually about 13.4 cm wide as it is folded over on itself lengthwise and stitched on the top, bottom, and one side. On each end is a piece of fabric twisted to be a string, one 9.5 cm long and the other 11 cm long, used to tie the sash together for wearing.

The main inscription is on the front twice in an orientation so that it can be read on the wearer’s front and back. The inscription in black is 大日本國防婦人會 for “Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association”. At roughly the top of the sash, which would rest on the wearer’s shoulder, and between the two 大 is a red outlined cherry blossom badge with a red kanji inside that I absolutely cannot read.

 

On the inside at one end near the bottom is 分會 for “Branch Association”, although the kanji on the sash is the old/traditional form of 分. On the inside at the other end near the bottom is 京都地方本部 for “Kyoto Regional Headquarters”. Below this near the bottom right corner stamped in black is a rectangle with a central column of six kanji with an additional two kanji on each side. I believe this is the maker’s mark but I cannot read all of it. On the right side is 京都 for “Kyoto”; on the left side is 五? for ?; the central column is 白井手?店製 for “? manufactured”.

 

Tracy

 

Front and back of the sash:

 

 

Red outlined cherry blossom badge with ? inside:

 

 

On the inside at one end near the bottom:

 

 

On the inside at the other end near the bottom:

 

 

Finally, what I believe to be the maker’s mark:

 

[No one]

Dear TracA,

 

It's the name of the company 白井手拭店 / shirai tenuguiten:

 

白井手拭店 (okoshi-yasu.net)

 

白井手拭店 (fujingaho.jp)

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

 

 

 

 

[No one]

Dear TracA,

 

I forgot to include the pictures:

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[TracA]

No One,

 

Thank you for the magnificent information!

 

All the best,

 

Tracy

[No one]

Dear TracyA,

 

You are welcome.

 

I think the red stamp could be the name of the branch.

Here is another example:

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[TracA]

No One,

 

Very interesting hypothesis.

 

Tracy

[TracA]

Greetings,

 

I am finally coming back to this thread, as I’ve acquired three additional Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association sashes, two from different branch associations and one, I believe, from a different headquarters. 

 

I hope that you enjoy.

 

Tracy

 

The example below is made of white linen-like cloth and is approximately 98 cm long and 6.4 cm wide. The true width of the sash is actually approximately 12.8 cm wide as it is folded over on itself almost exactly widthwise and stitched on the top, bottom, and both sides. On each end is a piece of the same fabric stitched to the sash, used to tie the sash together for wearing. Each is approximately 1.2 cm wide but one is 28 cm long and the other is 28.5 cm long.

 

Because this sash had some repair or alteration work done to it the main inscription is on the front only once in full form. The inscription in black is 大日本國防婦人會 for “Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association”. Underneath is a two column inscription with a right column of 島田町 for “Shimada” and a left column of 分會 for “Branch Association”. Note: the kanji on the sash is the old/traditional form of 分.

 

On the other front side is a 4.5 cm section that is folded over on itself twice, and then stitched into place, on which 婦 is perfectly placed. Therefore this front side does not have a full inscription. Rather, in black is 大日本婦人會 and then below it is the two column inscription 島田町 and 分會.

 

On the inside of the sash part that does not have the twice folded over 4.5 cm section is an inscription that I cannot fully make out. It is either 島田町?婦會 or 島田町??婦會 for “Shimada ?? Women’s Association”. The inside of the sash that has the twice folded over 4.5 cm section is intended to have the same inscription, but it is incomplete because of the fold.

 

Complete inscription on the front:

 

 

Incomplete inscription on the other front side:

 

 

Complete inscription on the inside:

 

 

Incomplete inscription on the other inside:

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by TracA
corrected word.

[TracA]

I am finally getting around to posting my second of three recently acquired Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association Sash. 

 

The sash is of a white linen-like cloth and it is tightly tied together at the end strings, not to be undone. The tied length is approximately 54.8 cm, thus the untied full length is approximately 109.6 cm. The width is approximately 7 cm, although the true width is actually a bit more than the approximately 14 cm that would be calculated, as it is slightly folded over on itself widthwise and stitched on the top, bottom, and one side. On each end is a piece of fabric twisted to be a string used to tie the sash together for wearing.

 

The main inscription is on the front twice in an orientation so that it can be read on the wearer’s front and back. The inscription in black is 大日本國防婦人會 for “Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association”. Just below this on one of the front sides is a red stamped square with red kanji inside that are too faint and faded for me to read. The square and the style of the kanji remind me of an official seal.

 

On the inside opposite the front side with the red seal is 播州本部 for “Banshū Headquarters”. At the bottom of the opposite inside is 分會 for “Branch Association”, and the kanji on the sash is the old/traditional form of 分. Below this are two rows of stamped black kanji. The top row is 姫路 for Himeji, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture. The bottom row is 黒岩製 for “Made by Kuroiwa”. So, I assume that the sash was made by a manufacturer called Kuroiwa located in the city of Himeji. 

 

Tracy

 

Inscription on one of the fronts:

 

 

Red seal (?) at the bottom of one of the front inscriptions:

 

 

Inside opposite the frontside with the red seal:

 

 

Backside of the side with the red seal, with manufacturing information:

 

[No one]

Dear TracA,

 

Thank you for showing those nice sashes. It's an interesting collection's theme all by itself.

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

Edited December 26, 2023 by No one

[TracA]

No One,

 

Thank you for the kind words. I agree that these are an interesting theme for collecting, and although the basic inscription on the two "fronts" is the same, the location and manufacturer information (when present) could be quite endless.

 

Hope that you are doing well. All the best,

 

Tracy 

[TracA]

…and finally the last of my three recently purchased sashes. 

 

Per the other sashes that I’ve posted here, this one is of a white linen-like cloth and it is  approximately 105 cm long by 6.8 cm wide. Since one side of the sash is slightly folded over its opposite side, the true width of the sash is actually a bit more than the approximately 13.6 cm wide as calculated. The sash is stitched on the top, bottom, and one side. On each end is a piece of fabric twisted to be a string, one 14.3 cm long and the other 16.3 cm long, used to tie the sash together for wearing. The main inscription is on the front twice in an orientation such that it can be read on the wearer’s front and back: 大日本國防婦人會 for “Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association”.

 

At the bottom of each main inscription is a red stamped square with red kanji arranged in four columns. From right to left it reads 大日本國 and 防婦人會 for “Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association” and then 津地方本 and 部?印 for “Tsugaru headquarters ? seal”. I just cannot figure out that second character in the fourth column.

 

Unlike the other sashes that I have posted, this one does not have an inscription on either inside of the sash, not even a designation as a branch association. So, I assume that the wearers of such a sash would represent the headquarters. No inside inscriptions, but on the bottom of one of the insides is a black stamped rectangle with black kanji in the following orientation: a horizontal row of ?津 underscored by a black line and then a vertical row of 白?垕語?. This one has me totally stumped.

 

I hope to acquire more Greater Japan National Defense Women’s Association in the future.

 

All the best,

 

Tracy

 

One of the frontside inscriptions:

 

 

The red “seal”:

 

 

The inside mark:

 

[No one]

Dear TracA,

 

The red seal : "大日本國防婦人會津地方本部之印":

 

 

The black one "津市 白銀屋調製  /  Tsu city Shiroginya preparation"  (Tsu, Mie - Wikipedia😞

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

Edited December 31, 2023 by No one

[TracA]

No One,

 

Thank you as always for your assistance and sharing your knowledge. Both are greatly appreciated.

 

All the best to you in the coming New Year.

 

Tracy