neat coal miner pic

[kaigunair]

neat coal miner pic from a current auction (not mine nor do I know the seller). picture is dated showa 8, or 1933. shows huge pick-ax, very large miner's lamp with some sort of metal reflector, large battery box that looks corrigated with leather straps attached from the sides of it. much different from the navy marked lamp I recently obtained and posted.

the kid looks alittle too clean to be a coal miner? I dunno.

if anyone has this style of head lamp, would love to see more pictures.

[kaigunair]

back side of pic

[imperialjapan]

A bit of correction on the translation. Mine is open to correction, too, so if I have any errors, please adjust. Line by line:

'Picture taken on April 27th, Showa 18 [1943]
Mitsui Miike [Manda?] Coal Mine
Meritorious Labor, Sacrifice for the Country Unit Participation Commemorative
Yamaji Yuuji, 21 Years Old
To my older brother in Miyaji.'

[kaigunair]

much appreciated! thanks for the translation and the correction. I should have paid more closer attention to the date: I assume that the kanji which preceeds the 8 is the older version of writing 10?

that is a very interesting translation. Guess they were really pushing homefront participation. "Meritorious Labor ...Commemorative" I wonder if there was an award also issued for this type of work, since there seems to be a ton of homefront awards.

thanks!

[imperialjapan]

Well, that phrase (kinrou) actually translates as 'labor' or 'service.' I buttressed the meaning a bit, I guess. However, this kind of phrase is often on badges honoring service--sometimes long service. The latter phrase doesn't seem appropriate, given the miner's age.

I think the houkoku-tai were groups of young workers who were nominally volunteers. Perhaps there are other members who can shed more light on this and/or correct me.

Cheers,
Rich

[imperialjapan]

Sorry. Houkoku-tai I translated as 'Sacrifice for the Country Unit,' a slightly unwieldy phrase when rendered into English.

[Jareth]

I wonder why this young man wasn't in the military?

[imperialjapan]

Bad leg or some other handicap? Chinese conscript? Korean conscript? The latter often were forced to take Japanese names since they were part of the Japanese empire. I don't think the Chinese were, though.