Type 1 National Civilian Uniform of 1940

[SARGE]

Gents,

 

I ask about the uniform pin on this tunic in another thread inquiring if anyone had seen it before or knew anything about it. That has lead to this follow-up thread.

 

This is a complete uniform belonging to a Japanese Army Auxiliary Policeman. The style is, I believe, that of a civil uniform for a non-military officer. As a matter of fact this is the same style uniform worn by Prime Minister Tojo at his Allied War Crimes Trial. It consists of a lightweight tunic and trousers with a cloth belt and metal police insignia. The uniform came intact with the police style gilt collar insignia as well as the purple lanyard and aluminum pin seen on the tunic. I once knew the purpose of the lanyard but since I did not write it down I have now forgotten its meaning. It also came with the man's wartime Police ID booklet but again, I don't know any personal information on the policeman as I do not read a word of Japanese. Particularly old style Japanese like that on these documents.

 

http://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/314373-unknown-japanese-pin/&do=findComment&comment=2522113

 

 

Any assistance you can render would be greatly appreciated.

[SARGE]

Here are some views of his Police ID book. I believe this is circa 1941-43 but I do not know his name or station. The gilt insignia on the front of his green ID book is that used by Police Lieutenants and Sergeants but the gilt wording is unknown to me.

 

There is also a loose paper with numbers written in pencil. I presume this is an expense list but I do not know.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[Eric Queen]

警防団員手帳 = Civil Defense Members Note Book. (keiboudanin techou)

 

 

His name was Minami 南 (surname) Kazuo 一夫 (given name)

[tiger41]

There is an date to the left of his name which looks like (to me) "Tai sho 12th year (1923) December 12th."....date of birth maybe? Just an observation on my part, by the mid 1943 the Japanese (particularly the navy) were making changes away from certain uniforms due to shortages in cloth and materials. It became easier to use green cotton cloth, more plentiful. The police wore black uniforms for the most part...but this jacket looks a lot like a naval officers uniform. Higher quality and tailoring...I would think he was someone of higher rank. Is there a custom embroidered name tag inside the jacket? If there is he would have been of higher rank. This is a very cool grouping.

[SARGE]

Thanks to both of you for your response and help. I really appreciate your insight as I have not looked at this uniform for years... which is why I am now asking questions.

 

Tiger,

 

Your intuition was right. I looked more closely inside the tunic and trousers and was able to determine that the uniform is an expensive and very well tailored uniform with the jacket having a full silk lining with many specialized pockets and flapped slits. Inside a small pocket at the neck I found the tailor label. Perhaps a junior officer with deep pockets or perhaps a higher ranking officer of some sort as you suggest? I also found an embroidered name done by the tailor. A different name than "Minami Kazuo" found on the ID book. So, the ID seemingly does not go with the uniform. The aluminum breast pin appears to be proper for the uniform since it matches the finely embroidered insignia on the cap.

 

So, what do we have here in light of this new information?

 

BTW, you are correct that civil police typically wore blue winter uniforms and white summer uniforms. Here is a nice photo of a municipal police sub-inspector wearing the blue uniform that I posted awhile back.

 

http://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/313319-japanese-police-cabinet-photo/

 

 

[tiger41]

To me, you still have a quality uniform (nice makers labels and great personal name embroidered inside the jacket) and the booklet is of the type they carried in those days. This is not easy stuff to fine. I would add if I can....this uniform is so close to a military uniform and a lot of former military men became government officials and worn custom uniforms and even some military uniforms with civilian insignia. There is a fine line between them....sometimes in pictures it very difficult to tell one from the other. This is a good grouping and great for everyone to see....a lot to learn from it.

[VPEP]

That is a beautiful uniform and cap. The uniform itself looks like one style of the national civilian uniform of 1940. There is a great artical about these by Nick Komiya on warrelics.eu ( I apologize for not being able to make this a link, I’m not at all tech savvy). In his article, he explains how this type of civilian uniform first came about, and how the braid could transform the jacket from everyday wear to something for a special occasion. Also quality just depended upon what the wearer could spend.

Vic

[Rod]

That is a beautiful uniform and cap. The uniform itself looks like one style of the national civilian uniform of 1940. There is a great artical about these by Nick Komiya on warrelics.eu ( I apologize for not being able to make this a link, I’m not at all tech savvy). In his article, he explains how this type of civilian uniform first came about, and how the braid could transform the jacket from everyday wear to something for a special occasion. Also quality just depended upon what the wearer could spend.

Vic

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/national-civilian-uniform-1940-a-677200/

 

I believe that's the link you wrote about Vic.

 

Agree with the guys that it's an exceptional civil uniform Sarge! The notebook is a great informative addition. Thanks for sharing.

[Rod]

The Taylor's name is 滝 Taki, Takizaki or Noboru. The owner's name is beyond my poor translation abilities.

 

[Eric Queen]

I would almost guess that it is Marutaki (perhaps the name of a clothier) due to the Taki being inside the circle but could be wrong.

[Rod]

I would almost guess that it is Marutaki (perhaps the name of a clothier) due to the Taki being inside the circle but could be wrong.

 

I would never have thought of it but you make perfect sense 丸 = circle, 丸滝. Thanks Eric!

[SARGE]

Excellent information!

 

So, now it seems that this uniform style was called the "Japanese National Civilian Uniform of 1940" adopted on 5 May 1940. According the the article it is the "Type 1 called Model Koh (A)" from November of 1940 for the duration of the war. The cap is the correct style for this uniform and the purple cord is also correct and makes the ensemble into full dress replacing formal attire.

 

I suppose this uniform could be worn by someone with a part-time Civil Defense position but it is not the standard Civil Defense style of uniform with a black collar and military cut. I have one of those as well but it is a fairly high ranking Officer jacket.

 

Thanks to everyone for the help. I do appreciate it.

[tiger41]

This thread started out looking at a great uniform and ended up looking a kanji character on a maker's label and what it means ! You have to love collecting !!!! On that note I'll add this about a " kanji character" inside the circle found on other pieces of Japanese headgear and equipment that are not maker's labels but something else. While markers labels appear on a lot of Japanese uniforms including hats and caps...and particularly on flight helmets, goggles, gloves and boots. The symbol of the kanji inside a circle similar to the design on the label in "Sarge's" uniform can be found on many other Japanese items.

 

When looking at more common pieces of headgear or personal items like helmets , combat caps, sun helmets, canteen's and pocket patches they very often have a single kanji character either painted, written or sewn in thread inside a circle or sometimes a square . What I have found is the kanji character is a simple abbreviation for the unit officers name or even a unit and is inside the circle to set it apart..I have several pieces of headgear in my collection that have this mark next to the owners name and number. It's fairly common and often goes unnoticed or unidentified. It would seem likely that someone out there has a piece with that kind of marking on it and may not know the significance of it. I will warn you now...if you ask for pictures, I am still going hand to hand (and losing) with my computer on sending pics...but will do so if anyone is interested in seeing what I'm talking about.

[Eric Queen]

For me this is typical of what a lot of merchants use as a logo.

 

Marutaki miso soy sauce as an example

[Eric Queen]

2

[Eric Queen]

Marutaki soy sauce (with old style taki)

[Rod]

The symbol of the kanji inside a circle similar to the design on the label in "Sarge's" uniform can be found on many other Japanese items.

 

When looking at more common pieces of headgear or personal items like helmets , combat caps, sun helmets, canteen's and pocket patches they very often have a single kanji character either painted, written or sewn in thread inside a circle or sometimes a square . What I have found is the kanji character is a simple abbreviation for the unit officers name or even a unit and is inside the circle to set it apart..I have several pieces of headgear in my collection that have this mark next to the owners name and number. It's fairly common and often goes unnoticed or unidentified. It would seem likely that someone out there has a piece with that kind of marking on it and may not know the significance of it. I will warn you now...if you ask for pictures, I am still going hand to hand (and losing) with my computer on sending pics...but will do so if anyone is interested in seeing what I'm talking about.

 

Thanks so much for expanding on this. I'm definately interested in seeing what you're talking about tiger41, being familiar with Japanese army abbreviations for unit types in lists, it would be cool to see other ways they were used. Wonder if it doesn't deserve it's own thread owing to topic creep.