Unusual Dog Tag-Protector Charm

[Fortunes Of War]

This is an unusual Dog Tag-Protector Charm combination for a Japanese Army Officer.  The wool cloth pouch is hand-made from 6 layers of heavy, thick material.  The layers alternate in an interesting color combination of khaki green-red-khaki green-red, etc., pattern.  The pouch is closed with what appears to be a brass-gold colored uniform pocket button.  A heavy cloth loop on the reverse of the pouch allowed it to be hung around the wearer’s neck or removed and placed in a pocket.  The metal dog tag piece measures approximately 1.50″ wide X 2.25″ high and appears to be made from a heavy brass metal.  There are 2 large brass loops that allow the dog tag to be worn around the neck if desired.  A long line of engraved kanji characters on the front of the metal tag translates to: “Army Infantry 2nd. Lt. Makata.”  Large, heavy metal tags like this were sometimes kept in the shirt pocket, near the heart as a good luck piece.  It was sometimes hoped that they would be able to deflect a bullet or piece of shrapnel if the owner was lucky enough.  You can imagine the damage done to the wearer if the metal charm failed!  I have one other example of this "dog tag" in my collection and one that is even larger in size.

 

[Jack the Collector]

Everyday is a school day in this hobby.That is the cat's meow ......sorry couldn't help myself with using that old expression.

[Fortunes Of War]

Hey Jack- That's okay; I have three cats!