Japanese soldiers' identification tags

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Akira Takizawa
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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#31

Post by Akira Takizawa » 09 Oct 2010, 15:05

stulev wrote:As for the top it appears the solder was transfered another unit number 10629 which was the 2nd Armies Field Freight Depot which was at Halmahera in the Dutch East Indies
According to my source, the unit number of 2nd Armies Field Freight Depot is not 10629. And the unit code of 2nd Army is "勢". But, the top character cannot be read as "勢".

Note that this tag was cancelled by overstrike in order to reuse. So, the ID on this tag was invalid.

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#32

Post by cloudy-joe » 09 Oct 2010, 18:47

I think, the top character is 輝 - code for Second Area Army


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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#33

Post by Akira Takizawa » 10 Oct 2010, 03:50

cloudy-joe wrote:I think, the top character is 輝 - code for Second Area Army
You are right. It will be 輝 meaning Second Area Army.

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#34

Post by asakim » 19 Nov 2010, 15:30

Hello - I am the grandson of a WWII US Marine and my grandfather had what I think is a Japanese dog tag in a box of things from the war. I'm hoping I could get it translated and determine if it is a dog tag or something for a shrine as someone else mentioned in the posts.

I think along the right hand side are the numbers 7838 and along the left are 35. At the top, I'm not sure if it says "Shrine 1"?

Thank you.
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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#35

Post by stulev » 20 Nov 2010, 16:15

the top kanji symbol on the right side is MIYA and was the unit code symbol of the 2nd Guards Division on Sumatra in the Netherlands Indies -- however the unit identification number 7838 which is the 2nd Independent Machine Gun Battalion is not normally associated with the 2nd Guards -- I have them under SONAE or the 109th Division which was attached to the Ogasawa force which was to defend the Bonin Islands

the center "1" is the First company

Left is the solders number in the fist company number 35 - only officers had their names on the ID tags

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#36

Post by Sewer King » 24 Nov 2010, 15:49

asakim wrote:Hello - I am the grandson of a WWII US Marine and my grandfather had what I think is a Japanese dog tag in a box of things from the war.
Welcome to the Forum.

What USMC unit was you grandfather in? The Bonins were occupied by elements of 3rd Marines in December 1945, who oversaw the demilitarization of the islands and repatriation of Bonin Islands garrisons at the end of the war. Of course there is no certainty from these alone that he got the dog tag while actually part of the occupation force, even if you can place him exactly in the Bonins. But it would be helpful.

=========================
Sewer King wrote: What metal were the tags made of? What size? Were they normally worn around the waist, or sometimes around the neck?
Akira Takizawa wrote:They were generally made of brass and measure 1 3/4 in., by 1 1/4in. It was hanged from neck or worn around the neck and armpit like a sash.
Were any late-war soldiers' dog tags made of some cheaper metal like zinc, to save copper?

In various photos we have seen so far of Japanese soldiers not wearing shirts, none seem to be wearing their tags. Weren't they required to be worn at most times, especially in the field? Or, were they ordered put on for combat? Maybe I simply haven't seen the right photos yet.

-- Alan

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#37

Post by Akira Takizawa » 25 Nov 2010, 03:55

> Were any late-war soldiers' dog tags made of some cheaper metal like zinc, to save copper?

There are tags made of bamboo.

http://www13.ocn.ne.jp/~seiroku/ninsikih.html

> In various photos we have seen so far of Japanese soldiers not wearing shirts, none seem to be wearing their tags. Weren't they required to be worn at most times, especially in the field? Or, were they ordered put on for combat? Maybe I simply haven't seen the right photos yet.

http://www13.ocn.ne.jp/~seiroku/ninsiki30.jpg

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#38

Post by Sewer King » 25 Nov 2010, 05:05

Many thanks again, Taki.

I hadn't thought of wood such as bamboo, which would have been easier to get than even cheap metals. According to this summary of world military ID tag history, the British Army had begun to use vulcanized asbestos fiber dog tags in World War I.
  • It also mentions the basic information about Japanese ID tags you gave earlier, adding that the IJA followed its Prussian lead in this. German tags were also oval. But however good the page is otherwise, there is much less in there about Japanese tags than here on this thread. Especially compared to those of other world powers.
Thanks also for the photo. Apologies for asking such an elementary thing, but I had tried some to find one myself and could not. Otherwise I had hoped to see one elsewhere in the Forum section, but did not.

-- Alan

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#39

Post by asakim » 03 Dec 2010, 09:18

Sewer King wrote:What USMC unit was you grandfather in? The Bonins were occupied by elements of 3rd Marines in December 1945, who oversaw the demilitarization of the islands and repatriation of Bonin Islands garrisons at the end of the war. Of course there is no certainty from these alone that he got the dog tag while actually part of the occupation force, even if you can place him exactly in the Bonins. But it would be helpful.
Thank you to the members who have commented and and assisted in the translation of my post - it is greatly appreciated. To provide some additional context on where this dog tag could have possibly been found, my grandfather was in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Division Fleet Marine Force. From what I can tell from researching the unit history and talking to men he served with, they were in Iwo Jima, Roi-Namur/Kawajalein and Saipan (where he was injured and did not participate in Tinian). I do not know for certain, but I don't believe he was ever in Sumatra. I have not researched the history enough to know if he was on other parts of the Bonin Islands, but that location doesn't sound familiar. My grandfather passed away 23 years ago, so unfortunately, I'm unable to ask him where he found this dog tag - even if he were alive, I don't know if he would talk about it - growing up, he never mentioned anything about the war to me, his daughters or his wife. I think it was a part of his life that he didn't want to remember or relive.

I appreciate the help everyone has offered - identifying this dog tag is part of a larger project/journey that I am on. In addition to a dog tag, I have a number of other personal items from a couple of Japanese soldiers from the war. I've been meeting with a Japanese teacher at a local school near the university where I work, and we've been trying to translate all of the information that I have, including a letter, photos, prayer flags, traditional fan, and some business cards. I have also been in contact with the Japanese Ministry of Health - War Victims' Relief, in the hopes of locating any living family members related to these soldiers - I would be honored to return everything I have to the rightful owners.

I have created a web site to chronicle my journey and if anyone is interested in visiting the site and weighing in on any of the other translations, it would mean a lot to me. While the help I've received from the Japanese teacher has been amazing, she has had some trouble with the translations and knowing exactly what the characters represent. The URL is http://awakeningthepast-wwii.blogspot.com. All of the items from my collection have been scanned and posted to this site - along with the progress I've made so far.

Again, thank you to everyone who replied - this means a lot to me and I only hope that I'm able to gain a better understanding of the importance of the items I have and to ultimately find the family members so that I can return everything. I will readily admit that I need to conduct more research and study the history of the battles more - that is my weakness at the moment - that is just another part of this journey and something I am hopeful that I can work on.

Kyle Parker

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#40

Post by cloudy-joe » 02 Jan 2011, 21:12

Image

From left to right:

1) Heavy field artillery regiment №2, Ammunition column of the first battery, personal number 155
2) Infantry regiment №71, company №1, personal number 92
3) “Tatsu” 6740 - Engineer regiment №56, interpreter Taniguchi Tadamori

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#41

Post by Akira Takizawa » 03 Jan 2011, 03:32

1) is not Heavy field artillery regiment, but Heavy artillery regiment. Heavy artillery regiment is the different unit from Heavy field artillery regiment.

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#42

Post by cloudy-joe » 03 Jan 2011, 07:41

Taki, many thanks for your correction! Do you mean the Second Heavy artillery regiment (重砲兵第2連隊) of Japanese 3rd Army, which was located in Acheng District (阿城) near Harbin? May be you have some additional information about type of armament and history of this unit?

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#43

Post by Akira Takizawa » 03 Jan 2011, 08:56

> Do you mean the Second Heavy artillery regiment (重砲兵第2連隊) of Japanese 3rd Army, which was located in Acheng District (阿城) near Harbin?

Yes

> May be you have some additional information about type of armament and history of this unit?

2nd Heavy Artillery Regiment was formed from Acheng Heavy Artillery Regiment in 1941. It consisted of two battalions and was equipped with eight Type 45 24cm Howitzers. It was staying in Manchuria during the WWII and surrendered to the Soviets without fight.

P.S.
"Ammunition column of the first battery" is not corret. It is "the ammo column of the 1st battalion".

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#44

Post by cloudy-joe » 03 Jan 2011, 12:31

Taki, thank you very much one more time!
"Ammunition column of the first battery" is not corret. It is "the ammo column of the 1st battalion".
I mean 第1大隊段列
2nd Heavy Artillery Regiment was formed in 1941
For me it is very strange, that the code “Iwa” 岩 of the Japanese 3rd Army did not used for this tag instead of the pre-war system of unit designation.

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Re: Japanese soldiers' identification tags

#45

Post by PF » 25 Jan 2011, 02:14


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