Japanese canteen markings

[Bundeswehr]

I recently obtained this Japanese canteen, but the meaning of the markings are a mistery to me. Probably a soldiers name or unit?
On the bottom it's stamped with "aluminium osaka", and some other stamping wich I can't solve...a date perhaps?

Would be great if someone could help me

[ghp95134]

マ
吉岡
Yoshioka

The マ "ma" katakana above Yoshioka's name is some sort of "alphabetic" classifier. Perhaps there were more than one Yoshioka in his element, so his first name initial was used [merely an uninformed guess]; it might also allude to his squad, section, or platoon? Nick might be able to shed some light on the katakana usage in this respect.

The date stamp is 二六〇〇 "2600" which is the imperial year [皇紀 Kōki] based on the mythological foundation of Japan. 2600 equals 1940.


Cheers,
--Guy

[Bundeswehr]

Wow, thanks for all the information!!

I also found a stamping on the carrying strap. Not really legible anymore, but perhaps it still contributes to the context.

[ghp95134]

Wow, thanks for all the information!!

I also found a stamping on the carrying strap. Not really legible anymore, but perhaps it still contributes to the context.

Sorry, all I can make out is "3".

--Guy

[Nick Komiya]

I also think his first name must have started with "Ma" like "Manabu". It could also be the unit commander's family name after they started to use the commander's name as unit names for security reasons. Either way it is not really that important. The maker stamp is that of Osaka Aluminum.

[Bundeswehr]

Thanks Nick for your reply!

You mean that "Yoshioka" could be the unit commander's family name instead of the owner's name? Or are you only referring to マ ?

[Nick Komiya]

I meant Ma could also stand, for instance, for the Mazaki-unit or Maruyama-unit, Maeda-unit etc, etc, the unit commander's family name. They dropped this practice soon, however, because it became too confusing when unit names constantly changed due to battle deaths of commanders. So if the canteen was from 1944, it could not be for the unit, but 1940 was still a borderline year.