Don't know what to call this one!

[Ron C.]

What is this, and can someone tell me what it says. It was given to me close to 40 years or more ago by a hometown vet who said he got it on Okinawa.

Thanks,
Ron

[MikeB]

Don't know what to call this one!

Ron-
Looks like you have a hachimaki that many folks believe is a Kamikaze (Divine Wind,) headband but was normally given to and worn by factory workers. The vintage ones (like yours) appear fairly regularly and the copies of it are just as common. Mike

[Ron C.]

Ron-
Looks like you have a hachimaki that many folks believe is a Kamikaze (Divine Wind,) headband but was normally given to and worn by factory workers. The vintage ones (like yours) appear fairly regularly and the copies of it are just as common. Mike

Thanks Mike. Can you translate what it says? I know nothing about Japanese things.....just that I picked them up when I found them, but only from vets.

Ron

[MikeB]

Dont' know what to call this one.

Ron-
Ouch! I knew you would ask me!! I have the translation packed away with my headband and cannot remember exactly what it says. The large characters say Divine Wind. Some of these bands have characters along the bottom like yours and in addition may have other characters printed on the other side of the band. One is a poem and the other identifies the factory (or something like that, I just cannot remember.) Sorry. Maybe Edokko or Nick can read it. We have talked about these at least one other time on the Forum. Perhaps you can find it via a search. Mike

[Nick Komiya]

What is written underneath is "writing humbly presented by Saburo Endo, Chief of the Main Office for Aviation Weaponary".
This office was within the Ministry of Armament and Endo, a Lt Gen. was in that position from 1st Nov 1943 till the end of the war. He died in 1959, but was one to promote friendship with China after the war and met with Mao. This earned him the name, "The Red General" and much scorn from his former Army colleagues. I noticed you had posted this in another forum, but thought you would eventually come here. I can't afford to help out on multiple forums, sorry.

[Ron C.]

What is written underneath is "writing humbly presented by Saburo Endo, Chief of the Main Office for Aviation Weaponary".
This office was within the Ministry of Armament and Endo, a Lt Gen. was in that position from 1st Nov 1943 till the end of the war. He died in 1959, but was one to promote friendship with China after the war and met with Mao. This earned him the name, "The Red General" and much scorn from his former Army colleagues. I noticed you had posted this in another forum, but thought you would eventually come here. I can't afford to help out on multiple forums, sorry.

Thanks Nick; however, I have never posted this anywhere before this. I don't post on any other forum. Actually, nobody has ever since this outside of my home until now.....and not very many even then. I don't have much time to spare for these things, so I don't mess with other forums. It must be that someone else has posted one like it.

I would assume this was a headband for a factory worker then because of what you and Mike have told me.

Thanks very much,
Ron

[sjasendo]

.

[sjasendo]

Ron-
Looks like you have a hachimaki that many folks believe is a Kamikaze (Divine Wind,) headband but was normally given to and worn by factory workers. The vintage ones (like yours) appear fairly regularly and the copies of it are just as common. Mike

hello, i am very sorry to bring up this very old post.
i would like to ask what it means by "normally given to and worn by factory workers", is this not given to pilots?
I thought the hachimaki is worn by kamikaze pilots, does kaiten pilots wear the same 'design' too?
i tried a search, but not much help. if could direct me where to find more information, it will be helpful.
btw.. i wish all of you a happy new year.

[Nick Komiya]

This particular type of band with the dedication was not made for pilots, but for factory workers. Divine Wind was the Typhoon that sunk the Mongolian armada attacking Japan to save her from impending doom, so the word saw widespread use as Japan once again faced doom during WW2. Like "Gott mit uns" or "In god we trust" it was simply a slogan asking for Divine Providence and not the "intellectual property" of the suicide pilots. Without provenance it would be very difficult to tie a Divine Wind (Kamikaze) band to the pilots.

[cbuehler]

About all has been said regarding these Endo presented hachimaki. Regarding these particular ones, they have been mistakenly thought to be pilots hachimaki for many years and it will take some time for this to be corrected. I even know of one of these Endo examples that has a notorized statement (from some 30 years ago) by a Navy veteran stating that he obtained it from a plane that crashed into his ship during the war! You cant trust anything when it comes to these things.
In effect, there are virtually no "Kamikaze headbands" to be had. Real ones were individually made and the very few that may survive are not out in the collectors market and never likely will be.

CB

[sjasendo]

thank you very much for the input.

is there any example photos of 'real' kamikaze headband? i never seen one yet... and i am far away from Japan......

Happy New Year guys~!!!! (a few hours earlier...... )

[GoForBroke]

I have to agree with CB. An authentic Hachimaki is indeed very hard to find. Most of the stuff released into the open market is common material such as this, originally with factory or civilian purpose. Japanese material can be very deceiving! I picked up the exact same hachimacki off Ebay back in 98 because it had curb appeal but the printed kanji didn't add up and immediately made me very uneasy. I had it translated by several Japanese elders who reached a similar conclusion as Mr. Komiya. I returned it to the seller and luckily got a refund.

[Nick Komiya]

I learned that this very type of headband is reproduced now. Here's such a repro.