SARGE Posted April 30, 2019 Share #1 Posted April 30, 2019 Gents, This is a tailor made Civil Defense (Kei-bou-dan) Officer tunic that is named to a Mr. Ikeda in the lining. The brown tunic has a black collar with a white celluloid insert and it was worn with a black belt. The gilt buttons are made in the Police style with the Japanese Police star motif. The collar has collar tabs with three Police style rank stars over two bullion stripes. The collar tab on the left side has a gold wire bullion patch that reads, "Teshikaga" which is a town near Kushiro in eastern Hokkaido. The sleeve cuffs bear three lace rank stripes indicating the rank of "dan-cho" which I believe translates to regional commander. I also believe this is the highest rank attainable by Civil Defense non-military personnel. The tunic also has embroidered loops for a three medal bar above the left breast pocket but no medals came with the tunic. There are also three sets of embroidered loops below the right breast pocket for pin back awards. Three proper pin back awards came with this tunic and are shown in the badges and awards section. Three period business cards also came with this tunic from: the Commander of the Kushiro City Fire Brigade, Kushiro Civil Defense Authority, and a Mitsubishi factory official. Interestingly, this key industrial city of Kushiro was bombed by US Army Air Forces on 14 July 1945 destroying 44% of the city. No doubt this Civil Defense Commander was heavily involved in the reaction to this late war raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted April 30, 2019 Share #2 Posted April 30, 2019 Lovely SARGE! Knowing the history is a great bonus. Thanks for sharing your tunic and its story, I enjoyed them both! Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Posted May 1, 2019 Share #3 Posted May 1, 2019 Sarge, Great tunic! And I'm betting a bit on the scarce side. Thanks for posting. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmd62 Posted May 1, 2019 Share #4 Posted May 1, 2019 There seems to be no end to your amazing uniforms, very nice!! Thanks! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SARGE Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted May 1, 2019 Thank you for the kudos gentlemen. I particularly like tailor made, and/or named, Axis Police related uniforms. They are often able to tell a story and I like the research. Japanese uniforms are particularly challenging in this regard because of the language of course. Here is a view of the three interesting WWII period (meishi) business cards found in the pockets of this tunic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShawn Posted October 2, 2023 Share #6 Posted October 2, 2023 I have an imperial Japanese military grouping that came with a 2nd Lt civil defense tunic. Grouping also came with a summer Navy cap and pants, a holster and a metal grouping. Appears this grouping is mismatched. I wonder if older soldiers ended up with civil defense units and had prior service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bushido Posted October 3, 2023 Share #7 Posted October 3, 2023 12 hours ago, MrShawn said: I have an imperial Japanese military grouping that came with a 2nd Lt civil defense tunic. Grouping also came with a summer Navy cap and pants, a holster and a metal grouping. Appears this grouping is mismatched. I wonder if older soldiers ended up with civil defense units and had prior service. The medals in the photo, from left to right, are ①"7th Class Blue Tung Leaf Medal", ②"Imperial Period 2,600th Year Celebration Medal", ③"Great Manchukuo National Founding Medal", and ④medals related to the Red Cross. ① was awarded to an individual who made non-military contributions to the nation. ② was awarded to an individual who attended the Imperial Japanese Ceremony held in 1940. ③ was awarded to an individual who attended the ceremony of Manchukuo, which was founded in 1932. ④ is related to the Red Cross, but there are so many variations that I couldn't identify it. I think it is highly likely that it was owned by someone involved in non-military public interest activities or politics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now