Comfort Bag

[MichaelB]

Thanks Guy! It looks like the ogre is really taking it "on the chin" so to speak. Have a great weekend!

MichaelB

[MichaelB]

I apologize for not having shared images of comfort bags for awhile. The summer is proving to be really crazy busy, but all good.
With that being said, here is an example of a well-worn bag that recently appeared on a prolific auction site. The bag itself looks to be made from a coarse type of hemp/cotton. The tie string across the top of the bag remains in place. The artwork is quite darkened but shows, printed in dark blue or black, a small girl and boy walking side by side. Behind them, appears to be a number of buildings with fences, trees, clouds, etc. The boy is dressed in military style clothing, quite popular at the time. In his hand he holds a toy airplane. The girl at his side appears to be holding a bag in her left hand. The characters written across the front of the bag appear to say, Buun Chokyu or "May Your Military Fortunes Be Long Lasting". Printed horizontally across the top in red are the 3 characters for Imon Bukuro or "Comfort Bag". There appears to be a line of kanji characters written on the left-hand side of the bag, however, they are quite faded and I cannot be sure what they say. On most bags this will normally give the name of the group that put the bag together or may even have the name of the recipient and his overseas location. This is an interesting bag and I wish that the artwork was not so faded. Enjoy!

[MichaelB]

It's been some time since I posted any images of Comfort Bags and so I thought I would add one to the list. This particular bag is made from a rough cotton hemp, is sewn closed across the bottom but lacks any kind of tie string at the top. The artwork is done in shades of blue: you can see the 3 characters for Imon Bukuro or "Comfort Bag". To the right is visible a woman in traditional peasant/labor attire, holding a child by the arm. To her left in the background appear to be a boy and girl or man and woman holding hands and waving at them. The 4 people appear to be acknowledging each other. Immediately to the left of the woman (her right), and child in the foreground is the rather large image of a steel helmet with hanging tie string. The helmet and tie string is reminiscent of the kiku-no mon of Masashige (chrysanthemum and river flowing underneath). I cannot say that this was the intent, however, the image does bring this design to mind. The reverse of the bag is plain with nothing else.

MichaelB

[MichaelB]

This comfort bag is made from a white cotton material that has age-toned to a tan color. While frayed in places across the top, the original tie string used to pull the bag closed, remains usable. To the right-hand side, the vertical column of 5 black kanji characters says, Ki Buun Chokyu or "I Pray Your Military Fortunes Are Long Lasting". To the center, there are 3 additional characters that say, "Comfort Bag". The 2 boxed columns to the left-hand side normally provide the information of the person/organization donating the bag. As most comfort bags tend to be "dead stock", and are unused, this is for the most part, left blank. The example here is filled out and says, "Matsushita Riichi of Tokyo (Hongo Ward, Yushima, Mikumi Town).
Across the top of the bag, a red submarine is shown in profile, sailing across the waves from left to right, its flag at the stern, blowing in the breeze. Just below that, a tank is seen driving forward from right to left, creating dust clouds both behind, and underneath the vehicle. Behind the turret, the Japanese national flag may be observed blowing in the wind as well.

MichaelB

[Type4]

My confort bag

[MichaelB]

Hello Type4-
That's a very nice looking collection of Comfort Bags; they all appear to be un-issued. Thank you for posting.

MichaelB

[Type4]

Yes are mint not shipped

[Type4]

Yes, they were official Army issue items, not civilian items like the comfort bags.

They were originally meant as carry bags for the pay book. Pay books did not have hard protective covers when they came out in 1873, so they soon got tattered. So from 9th June 1874 they issued pay books in a bag, which evolved into the Service Bag. Intended contents of the bag later expanded to include medals and orders, call up papers, savings book, training papers, etc related to army life. If you were a reserve you kept all items in here that you required to respond to call up.

As officially issued items, they have defined specs, as shown in the drawing below.

Here some Hoko-Bukuro or public service/utility bags (and one confort bag)

[MichaelB]

Here is a comfort bag that I recently came across. It appears to show Nagoya Castle in the upper left section of the bag. Like most comfort bags, this one is made from a rather rough, white cotton fabric; the tie string is still present. The castle image is printed in a nice light blue color, while portions of the bushes and trees down along the lower aspect have been printed in a nice pale shade of green. The bag is unused as the small boxes on the extreme lower left have been left blank. In the center the kanji for "comfort bag" may be seen. Further to the right, the 5 characters for Ki Buun Chokyu (I Pray Your Military Fortunes Are Long Lasting), are also evident. This is an attractive looking bag!



MichaelB

[Type4]

Confort bag?