Japanese Hat\Cap Badge? WW2 Civilian or Military?

[godzilla2007]

Just curious as to what this Japanese hat badge signifies? Sorry if this badge was covered in a previous\pinned post (i scanned for it but may have inadvertently missed it).

Thanks,
D.

[Nick Komiya]

Civilian and likely postwar elementary school cap badge. Just remember that brass metal badges, not immediately recognizable as military are always school badges which Japan has endless variations of. These have absolutely no collecting value, so don't touch them. Buying school badges hoping them to be military is the second most common casualty after reservist badges among novice collectors. 3rd on the list of bad calls is of course the Kamikaze headband

[godzilla2007]

Thanks Nick. I have seen this badge about a year ago and could not locate info on it. When I saw this badge a year ago, it was affixed to a Japanese civil defense helmet and being peddled as a IJA guard helmet

[Nick Komiya]

I'm sure you saw different ones every time. Click here for a small selection
In Japan, it is not only military pilots that have wings.

Wow, some schools must need to lure students with badges like these.

[godzilla2007]

....a seemingly endless supply

[ghp95134]

小學
Elementary School [小学校]

Nick, when did the shou/chuu levels come about? Just a cursory read through Wiki leads one to infer it is post-1945 as it only mentions kokumin/seinen/senmon schools for pre-1945, then shou/chuu/kou levels post-1945. However, the prewar kanji 學 is used on this badge [which could be a tradition carry-over].

I recall (perhaps erroneously) you once schooled us on the difference in Japanese pre-1945 schools; that "middle schools" were the equivalent of our high school, and "high schools" were the equivalent of an American college/university. My memory is foggy [like today's SF Bay area] and I need a refresher .... please.


Thanks,
--Guy

[Nick Komiya]

School badges generally feature old style Kanji, if they were established before the war. Also, wartime badges could not have used brass. The 小中高 designations for elementary, junior high and senior high schools were used since the Meiji era, only that they tended to have the word 尋常 on top. Thus what used to be　尋常小学校 simply got shortened to 小学校 after the war. Either way, school badges are a dime a dozen, so they come handy in making paramilitary items like civil defense helmets look very official like Cupman's rubber stamps. One should stay well away from brass cap badges.
This Wiki article shows a comparison of prewar and postwar school structures https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0...AD%A6%E6%A0%A1