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Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU

Article about: ITEM 33 Mimeographed “File of Ordnance Documents”, compiled by HIRATSUKA Unit Headquarters, dated January 1941 to January 1943. 170 pages. Summary 13. Equipment made from compressed rubb

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    Default Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU

    ITEM 33 Mimeographed “File of Ordnance Documents”, compiled by HIRATSUKA Unit Headquarters, dated January 1941 to January 1943. 170 pages.

    Summary

    13. Equipment made from compressed rubber and cotton cloth.
    The cloth is stamped to the rubber and vulcanized. The material is used for harness, ammunition pouches and other equipment usually made of leather.

    14. Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU
    ĀTO BĀKU is a synthetic rubber produced by treating the bark of the ATOKARUPUSU tree, a member of the mulberry family which grows in Borneo and Celebes. It is used to make sword and bayonet belts.


    Source: United States War Department. PACMIRS Bulletin Number 56, 28 August 1945, Page 22.
    PACMIRS = Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service located at Camp Ritchie, Maryland.

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    Here's more about the Artocarpus tree, the bark of which got used for making the leather substitutes.

    The IJA used this material for field cap chinstraps and bayonet frogs, etc in a substitute leather role like rubberized canvass, but such items did not get actively issued to frontline troops, when there was a choice, as shown below.
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU  

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    Art Bark Specs were issued for the following items.

    1937 Sept. 1: Spec sheet issued for use as field cap sweat band

    1942 July 6 : Spec sheet issued for use as field cap chin strap B model (Ro)

    In both cases the tree bark was used in multiple layers, 2 for sweat band use and 3 layers as a chin strap and both sides were clear-coated with water repellent lacquer.

    Art Bark was not a synthetic rubber as the US intelligence report suggests, but simply laminated tree bark, coated in clear lacquer.

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    Often referred to as bark cloth.

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    Thank you both for the information! I have a couple of bayonet frogs I now believe are made from ĀTO BĀKU. I'd always assumed they were some kind of pressed paper/paper pulp product. But now I suspect they're made from tree bark. Here's one of my examples. Most I've seen are identical with olive painted rivets, though I have seen one with black painted rivets. Thank you again!

    Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKU

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    In the Pacific rim it is amazing what has developed over better than a thousand years using what nature provides.

    In Hawaii the is whats called a tapa mat, for sleeping on as well as bed cover. Originally from Tonga, these are quite versatile. Tapa or Kapa (in Hawaiian) was made from the bark of mamaki or wauke. It was used mainly as cloth for clothing and for sleep coverings or bedding. The the Japanese Tatamai mat is used in the same manner. the Tatamai mat was developed over thousands of years.

    Seeing the frog from the side I wonder if when produced the process was the same as Tapa mat in production. The bark is beat down, pressed to remove as much liquid as possible, which produces a sheet. Then laid on top of each other in several layers and perhaps glued. Not certain what glue was used but it certainly looks like the process is similar to tire manufacturing but without the use of rubber.

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    I stumbled on a another bayonet frog, and my first belt, made from ĀTO BĀKU. I've never seen a belt so I'm very grateful to have found the pair! Interestingly the buckle is olive painted brass which is retained on the belt with four olive painted steel rivets, the same rivets used for the frog. In addition, there's some kanji lightly pressed into the interior side of the belt. It's difficult to photograph given the belts very rigid. I'm hoping the kanji indicates the maker, or perhaps the material?

    Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKUEquipment made from ĀTO BĀKU

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    工員義成所
    Kōin Yōsei-jō
    Factory Worker [at a] Training School

    [or in better English: Training School Factory Worker]

    -- Guy

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    I wonder if this saya cover was Art Bark rather than compressed paper? Richard Fuller described it as a "flexible compressed paper." I have one. You can see the layering in a corner that was torn. The stamp says something about the patent. Maybe I'm wrong, and Fuller is correct about it being compressed paper.

    Thoughts? Any other examples of items made of compressed paper? If not, maybe this is Art Bark.
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU   Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU  

    Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU   Equipment made from ĀTO BĀKU  


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    Guy,

    Thank you very much for the translation, it's appreciated!!

    Bruce,

    Not too long ago I saw a wood saya covered with ĀTO BĀKU online. It looked identical to the pictured fogs and belt, though I imagine it was thinner. I recall saving pics, or at least I thought I did, as I can't find them. In my mind your pictured saya cover is probably paper as it doesn't have the larger fibers of the pictured gear. Buy who knows??

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