Introduction to Japanese Army Pay Books

[Nick Komiya]

Chapter 2
A. Respect for the Divine Protector

B. Filial Values
A truly loyal soldier is also true in honoring his parents. Even at the head of the front line, reflect upon the values of one’s father and mother and uphold the honor of one’s ancestors.

C. Saluting

D. Comradeship
On the same boat in life and death, mutual faith, inspiring each other, assisting each other, constructive criticism.

E. Leadership
Set an example through follow-me leadership

F. Responsibility

G. Life & death philosophy
Transcend worldly concepts of life and death and rejoice in the life of serving the eternal justice.

H. Honor
Those who know shame are strong. Do not live to shame your name in captivity, do not tarnish your name in death through crime.

I.Stoic Frugality
Take inconvenience for granted and live sparingly.

J. Purity of spirit
Be strict in self discipline, just in judging and honorably in action

Chapter 2

[Nick Komiya]

Chapter 3

A. Discipline in Battle

1. A moment of inattention and complacency can lead to a crisis.
Do not lookdown upon the enemy or the populace and underestimate them

2. Be attentive in keeping military secrets

3. Guard duty ensures the safety of the troops and also mirrors the discipline of ones unit.
Carry it out with awareness of the heavy responsibility. Show respect to those on guard
duty.

4. Propaganda is part of modern warfare. Fight enemy deception and actively
promote the imperial values.

5. Disregard rumors. Rumors are born through lack of faith. Have conviction in
the might of the imperial forces and your superiors.

6. Pay attention to safekeeping of enemy materiel. Commandeering, confiscation, destruction,
all need to be carried out according to regulations, and observing the commanding officer’s
orders.

7. Protect the innocent population, in accordance with the imperial values of benevolence.

8. Do not bring the military into disrepute through the frenzy of lust for the flesh or for the
bottle.

9. Rage is an enemy. Remind yourself of the pure intentions when joining, think of your
parents and avoid the disgrace of committing an offence

B. Virtues in Battle

1. Constantly strive to hone one’s martial skills

2. Always keep your personal affairs in order to be able to die any time without regrets or
concerns. To leave one’s corpse in the battle field is a fate that all soldiers must accept.
Make the family aware of the possibility that no remains may return from the battlefield.

3. It is regrettable to die in the field of illness. Pay attention to hygiene and avoid excess.

4. Follow the example of the samurai, who regarded the sword as their soul and the horse as
his treasure. Always keep your weapons and equipment in order, and care for the animals.

5. Consideration for others. Refrain from hoarding of shelter, material at the expense of other
units. It is said that departing water fowl will leave the water clear. Leave behind a
reputation that will endure.

6. Not to flaunt one’s valor, and to credit others for merit is the noble spirit of the warrior. Do
not be jealous of the acclaim given to others. Instead of blaming others for one’s lack of
recognition, understand that it is due to your lack of sincerity.

7. In everything be honest and know shame in exaggerations and deceit.

8. Always act as an ambassador of a great nation. Observe also the international codes of
courtesy.

9. If one in a million, one survives to receive the order and honor to return home, offer your
thanks to the spirits of the heroes (Pay respects at Yasukuni Shrine), conduct yourself in
modesty and renew your dedication to serve the nation as a model citizen.

The closing explains that all the forgoing is firmly based upon Emperor Meiji’s rescript and that through observing them one can ensure the observance of his sacred will.

In this manner, Tojo put many extra words into the long dead Emperor Meiji’s mouth

Photo showing chapter 3

[Nick Komiya]

Due to the addition of this piece from Tojo, the 1942 booklet got 22 pages added all of a sudden, but despite of that, it was actually thinner than the previous years! Since the Meiji era, the pages of the paybook had been printed on a very fibrous low-density Japanese paper that could only be printed on one side as it had a high degree of transparency to the other side. So one printed sheet was folded in two to carry 2 pages of text, making one leaf the thickness of two papers. The 1942 editions were printed on higher density paper that allowed double sided printing, which allowed the outcome to be much thinner. Obviously, this paper was more expensive, as the late war economy forced them to go back to folded pages, resulting in a well padded booklet at the end of the war.
This 1942 booklet has another feature that is unique. As shown in the following photo, the 1942 edition lacked the tab for closing the internal flaps together, which was a feature in earlier and later editions (I’m guessing here, because I don’t have ’41 and ’43-44 editions to verify that the special printing and tab-less closure features were limited to a single year.
Note: The booklets do not show the year of printing, so you have to judge by the date of the first entry.
The photo below shows the 1942 tab-less closure on the left and the standard construction on the right.

[Nick Komiya]

After Tojos lesson, the booklet finally enters the personal information section.

Personal Information Section

In the last Showa edition of the Pay Book the preceding explains the first 66 pages out of a total of 86 pages. The remaining 20 pages are used as follows.

Page 1:
Columns on the top row from right to left
-Military District
-Branch of Service The following example says Infantry
-Special Skills (qualifications)
-Hat size
-Tunic size
-Coat size
-Shoe size
-Leather leggings size (Only in the Pre WW2 Showa editions)

Columns on the bottom row from right to left
-Unit designation--- The example says Iso 27723 unit, Ikeda-tai, which was the code for the
327th Inft. Regiment. Ikeda must be the battalion commander
-Rank--- 2nd Class Private here
-Permanent address (Where family register is held, call-up is done by the authority of this
area)
-Current address
-Name and date of birth
-Height ( meter, centimeters, millimeters)

[Nick Komiya]

Page 2:
-First row; nature of military service (active, reserve, secondary reserve)
-Length of Service ( 1st row is number of years, 2nd row is from when to when)
-Real service (excluding training)
-Remarks

Page 3:
-Right column: Education
-Center : Previous job experience/career
-Left :Award for diligence : The following photo says he got awarded in 1937

[Nick Komiya]

Page 4:
-Right column: Awards-- The following photo shows he was awarded the rare Artillery
Communications Badge on Oct. 10th, 1940
-Center : Good deed citations--- example shows award for July 20th, 1943
-Left :Citation for suitability of tasks ( For instance, at the end of one’s first
military service the soldier that gets a suitability citation for NCO will start his
second service as a NCO)

Pages 5 to 9
-Service record details with dates (campaigns, trainings, transfers)

[Nick Komiya]

More campaign entries

[Nick Komiya]

Page 10: Absences—The example below carries overflow info from the campaign participa-
tions and shows he was awarded the Sacred Treasure 6th Class Order.

Page 11: Punishments

[Nick Komiya]

Page 12:
-Right column: Record of Service Fulfillment (discharge), Exemption from Service
-Center :Wounds and Illnesses in Service
- Left :Killed in action or Death from Illness

Page 13: Notices regarding salary payments. (only when transfers, etc. when it
becomes necessary to clarify up to when the individual had been paid, filled in by
a NCO or officer in charge of accounts with stamp of office)

The example below shows the man was KIA on 23rd December, 1939. Another page details the circumstances of his death in an action in China, when a bullet penetrated his left chest. Japanese booklets generally give details of the wound that caused death, which you don’t see in German books..

[Nick Komiya]

Once again the WAF server crashed!!
The next example has many entries in the pay section indicating he got transferred to other units that needed to know up to which date the former unit had paid the soldier's salary.

[Nick Komiya]

Pages 14 to 20 are blank pages for notes


To summarize, below are the major variations that apeared after 1938. Those who have 1940, 1943 and 1944 editions can fill in the gap where I lack samples.

1939: Instructions in responding to call-up and reporting to service added.
1-sided printing and closure tab
1942: Tojo’s Instructions for the Battlefield added. Single sheet 2 sided printing,
no closing tab.
1943:Hirohito’s WW2 declaration added(?).1-sided printing and closure tab (?)
1944: 1-sided printing and closure tab (?)
1945: 1-sided printing and closure tab

Hopefully this article will make you dig out your booklet from the closet for study and lead you to some new discoveries!!

I wrote this very long article for you guys, so please do me the favor of not asking me to translate your booklets as now I want to relax. I just couldn't leave this piece unfinished.

Thank you for reading till the end, Good Night.

THE END

[Nick Komiya]

PS.

I didn't address the Meiji and Taisho books in any detail, but the information given in these early booklets are quite interesting. For instance, these books will tell you whether the individual was from a Samurai family, a commoner or an aristocrat. Such carryover practices from feudal times was no longer officially entered into the family register after 1914, but proud Samurai stock continued to enter this in the army paybook into the Taisho era. But those early books are another story for another time.

[pmiya]

Thank you for the lesson. You have provided a wealth of information.

[RussellM]

Once again, some most fascinating and valuable translation provided here which will be of great interest to most collectors of Japanese items - thanks for taking the time to carry out this work Nick! It gives great insight into the minds of these times. Is there a record anywhere of which weapons or equipment were issued?

I suggest this thread be pinned for ongoing reference.

Regards

Russ

[Jareth]

Another great presentation Nick except I feel sorry for you...you've opened pandoras box! Now everyone will be buying these & bombarding you with translation requests