Interesting Japanese Propaganda Currency Bag

[christek]

Greetings all,
I thought I would share this fascinating item as I had never seen one before.
It was found full of various Japanese Govt. WWII currency so i am assuming there are related, but maybe not.
I couldn't help notice that the 'samurai' looks quite feminine, I wonder if that's on purpose? Can anyone read the kanji for me?
The best regards to all!

[Nick Komiya]

The contents are postal savings certificates and war bonds, not currency. They also have nothing to do with the bag, which are called comfort bags or good-cheer bags.

These bags were presents to the front lines from families back home. They were put together by Patriotic Women's Associations, schools, etc and contained sweets, magazines, photos of actresses, etc. They were collected by the army and transported free to the front.

The motif on your bag features Momotaro (Peach Boy) defeating Roosevelt and Churchill the way he punished the demons in the fairy tale. See here for the story of this child https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momotar%C5%8D

I will show you photos below of what typical contents went into the bags, housewives filling the bags, montain-load of bags at collection point, and a cartoon of soldiers opening the bags at the front.

[christek]

Thanks Nick - Great knowledge. Interesting stuff, & a many thanks for the link!
Much appreciated as always.

[Nick Komiya]

Here's the ultimate "How-to tutorial" film on how to put together comfort bags that will be appreciated by the soldiers in the front. It includes an interview with the local regiment PR officer about what counts most, women buying comfort bag contents from a Supermarket style outlet, women making hand-made items, bag contents suited for the tropics vs cold climates, children whose school makes comfort bags once a month in their arts & crafts class, how they deliver them to the village collection point, and handing out to soldiers at the front. Like the kid in the film reading out the letter he wrote to accompany his handicraft, someone I know was also required to write such letters as a kid. He was flabbergasted after the war, when a soldier that got his letter actually came to visit him to say, thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEGH9-p6TnY