SARGE Posted October 28, 2018 Share #1 Posted October 28, 2018 Gents, I believe this belt buckle to be a Japanese Police Kendo Award. The sunburst insignia on the front of the nickel plated buckle is a Japanese Police insignia so I know that it is a police buckle. The buckle came along with a WWII period Japanese Police uniform. The buckle was in a wooden box, along with several other boxed awards, found in the pockets of the uniform. I am not certain this box goes with this particular belt buckle but that is the way it came to me. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SARGE Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share #2 Posted January 22, 2019 Bumping this to the top to see if anyone can confirm this is a kendo award for the Police? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger41 Posted January 22, 2019 Share #3 Posted January 22, 2019 I can give you some info for what its worth. Belt buckles of this design were very popular during the pre war & war era in Japan. The same basic style and buckle construction were used by the navy on their cloth belts. Both the army and navy gave out belt buckles similar to this one as prizes or awards. These were purchased from private companies and often came in wooden boxes like the one you have. Made from all types of materials. There were a large number of these buckles custom made for individual soldiers and sailors (many for officers who could afford something like this) with military themes such as a ship launching, a unit or a personal theme the soldier wanted. They were allowed to be worn all during the war. I have 4 all with different military themes. Saburo Sakai (navy pilot) has a picture of his same style buckle in his book with a tiger head on it. I know none of this answers your questions...yours is similar to WW II buckles but the material appears heavier and different than any of the war era material that I have seen. The kanji is stylized and very difficult for me to read which I think may answer your question in the end. On the makers label I see "Tokyo" and a phone number and on the top line of the buckle I see the word "Commemorate". So I'm not sure if its a prize or a remembrance of some special event or both. The use of cherry blossoms in the design with what appears to be water in the background like the "Kikusui" or floating mum is interesting with the police emblem. Good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SARGE Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted January 23, 2019 Tiger, Thank you very much for the information. I now know much more about this buckle than I did. I am grateful for your time and expertise. I think I will post a couple of the other boxed awards to see if you might be able to help with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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