Japanese Patriotic Paper Weight

[Fortunes Of War]

This is another paperweight in the form of Japanese Army helmet.  In this case, it had two uses: to hold papers in place and when the top was removed, it acted as an ashtray.

[Fortunes Of War]

This is a commemorative paperweight of the Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship Mikasa.  This is what Wikipedia says about the ship and some of its history:

 

Mikasa (三笠) is a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan, the ship served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. Days after the end of the war, Mikasa's magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship. She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete. Afterwards, the ship served as a coast-defense ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces during the Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War.

After 1922, Mikasa was decommissioned in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka. She was badly neglected during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s. She has been partially restored, and is now a museum ship located at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka. Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world and also the last example of a British-built battleship.[Note 1]

[Fortunes Of War]

Paperweights came in many shapes and sizes.  Perhaps more typical ones were in the shapes of helmets, rifles, bombs, propellers, etc.  This unusual paperweight took the form of one of an Imperial Japanese Army Officer's Academy building.  It's quite large and elaborate, even showing trees, rocks, walkways, and a small worship area.  

[Fortunes Of War]

This is a more interesting paperweight in terms of subject matter.  It shows a Japanese float plane, sitting atop a propeller, as its base.  Tomorrow, I'll post another one of my favorite paperweights from the war!

[SARGE]

I, for one, had no idea there were this many different forms of paperweights.  These things are addictive. 

 

[Fortunes Of War]

Hi Sarge!  Thank you for your comment and I agree, there are quite a few of these.  You are right, collecting them can be addictive!

 

This paperweight is amazing in its detail scope.  It portrays a tank, rumbling across a rocky field.  The paperweight is substantial in length and narrow.  Underneath, it is hollow.

[Fortunes Of War]

This particular paperweight shows a Japanese navy officer's visor hat (with fouled anchor logo), sitting atop a dress dagger. The dagger sports a ray skin, wrapped grip, with metal sakura blossom detail.  There was a little something for everyone...!

 

 

[Fortunes Of War]

This paperweight was purchased during the war at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.  It is dated 1940 and shows a typical Japanese infantry Type 38 model rifle.

[Fortunes Of War]

This paperweight is a solid cast version in the shape of a Japanese Navy helmet.  The helmet is painted in a brown-ish color and has a silver anchor, with yellow cherry blossom on the front.

[Fortunes Of War]

This navy style paperweight is one of my favorites!  It shows a beautiful Japanese I-boat, cruising through the water, bow brushing aside the waves.  You can see the detail of the conning tower, periscope and deck gun as well.  

[vintageproductions]

Mike- You have shown more patriotic paperweights then I have seen available in all my trips to Japan.

[Fortunes Of War]

Hi Bob-

     There are a ton of paperweights out there: some more elaborate and some less so.  They were an essential part of any desk set-up in the day, along with a fountain pen, ink well, ink blotter and desk blotter.  The development of the modern day ink pens, did away with some of these commonly used items, although paperweights have remained (a breeze can still come along and upset any well organized desk!)  While not used as much today, they continue to be admired and collected as attractive patriotic items from WW2.

 

Mike

[SARGE]

Mike,

 

I would think that some essential metal shortages would have limited the production of these paper weights during the war.  Are they mostly made of pot metal or brass for instance?

 

They are a really neat collecting genre that I had not thought of before.  

 

[Fortunes Of War]

Hi Sarge-

     You make a great point!  Yes, most of these are made from pot metal and/or hollow castings.  Early versions are sometimes solid, made from finer metals, or plated/washed with more expensive metals like nickel.  As the war progressed, all of the expected issues with the shortage of more valuable metals occurred.  Like everything else, however, that is a generality.  You could still find some of the finer examples, right up until the end of the war, although they were less often encountered.

 

Mike 

[Fortunes Of War]

As mentioned, some paperweights served a dual purpose.  This example shows a highly detailed battleship, (with stubby proportions!), cruising through the waves.  The superstructure, smoke stack and guns are all visible.  If you take in the entire representation of the superstructure, it almost looks like a strip mall of buildings, instead of a being part of the ship.  Interestingly, the top of the paperweight can be removed to reveal its function as an inkwell too.  There is a space for a cup of ink and water.  Note the hollow cast metal.

 

Mike

[Fortunes Of War]

Here is an unusual heavy glass paperweight in the shape of an aircraft carrier.  This example, and others were sold during the war at the Yasukuni shrine.  The detail is good but not like we have seen in some of the metal versions.  

[vintageproductions]

29 minutes ago, Fortunes Of War said:

Here is an unusual heavy glass paperweight in the shape of an aircraft carrier.  This example, and others were sold during the war at the Yasukuni shrine.  The detail is good but not like we have seen in some of the metal versions.  

I have found these in different color glass in Japan.

[Fortunes Of War]

Bob-

     I would think that any other colors would look quite colorful.  This type of glass ware is sometimes seen in purple, green, blue and shades of pale red.

 

 

[Fortunes Of War]

This is one of my favorite paperweight types.  It depicts an image of the "3 Human Bombs".  The following information is taken from the link provided by the Tin Collector-

https://www.thetincollector.com/single-post/2019/06/09/three-human-bombs-heroes-or-not  

 

"Nikudan Sanyushi (爆弾三勇士) is the Japanese term for 'The Three Brave Warriors' or 'The Three Human Bombs', who in 1932 were Japan's best known war heroes. Their names were Takeshi Eshita, Yuzuru Kitagawa and Inosuke Sakue and are pictured above.

 

On February 22nd 1932, during the siege of Shanghai, the three Engineers from the 24th Kurume Regiment died while detonating a long bamboo pipe filled with explosives known as a 'Bangalore Torpedo'. The blast cleared an opening in a line of enemy fortifications and allowed Japanese troops to advance at a critical time in the battle.

 

The men were posthumously celebrated as war heroes and remembered as gallant and selfless heroes who gave their lives for the greater good of Japan. Memorials were built and a military medal was created to award heroism in honor of the three and their effort was heavily exploited for propaganda purposes.

 

The 'Three Human Bombs' were lauded on stage, in film, and in song. As songs about the three heroes were made into 78 rpm records by all the biggest Japanese studios, such as Polydor, at least one gramophone needle manufacturer saw the opportunity to benefit commercially from their popularity.

 

A monument for the 'Three Human Bombs' was erected in Tokyo and in the photo below you can see the bamboo tube style explosive device carried by the three men as depicted on the needle tin lid. After Japan lost the second World War the monument was removed however, the piece of the statue representing Takeshi Eshita still remains at his grave today.

 

As glorious as all of this appeared to be, the problem was that many considered it all to be a lie! To this day there remains considerable debate whether the three men knowingly sacrificed themselves or if the explosive device detonated too early. Whatever the truth was, the story of the 'Three Human Bombs' was one of the most successful military propaganda campaigns in Japan in the early twentieth century."

[vintageproductions]

32 minutes ago, Fortunes Of War said:

Bob-

     I would think that any other colors would look quite colorful.  This type of glass ware is sometimes seen in purple, green, blue and shades of pale red.

 

 

I have seen and owned red, green and blue besides the basic white

[Fortunes Of War]

Bob-

     I would imagine that the aircraft carrier paperweight would be impressive in another color other than white; blue, for instance.

 

     I am beginning to get down to the bottom of the barrel now on paperweights.  I have a few more to list before I run out, but they are nevertheless interesting.  Here is a two-piece example of an aircraft engine.  The inner portion of the casting: pistons, plug wires, etc., drops out of the bottom of the cowling.

[vintageproductions]

Found one more I forgot I had.

[Fortunes Of War]

Bob-

     I like that one!  It looks like a veteran's organizational badge.  Is the blue color paint? Or Cloisonné?

[vintageproductions]

Paint

[Fortunes Of War]

This is another, older navy paperweight.  It shows a dreadnought, with guns and stacks.  Note the side mounted guns, typical of the Mikasa era battleships.  The Olympia, Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manilla has similar mounts.