Opinions on Sennin Bari

[Kryptos]

Would love to add a sennin bari to my hinomaru but lack of experience in this area gives me absolutely no idea how to spot fakes. Would the following be considered original? And why?

[MikeB]

Opinions on Senninbari

This senninbari is currently being offered on Ebay. I have dealt with the seller for years and her items are nearly always good. That being said......
Looking at images of any cloth item is a tough way to be able to tell whether it's vintage or not. Senninbari are generally not old enough to be able to test their material for age either. You can blacklight test them to see if they glow, but this is only one way to gather a bit of information on the item. Anything washed in today's modern detergents will glow. Items washed or cleaned years ago to remove stains may also glow. The senninbari shown here appears to be made from a rough, cotton cloth. There are coins sewn to it for good luck. A small round stamp has been used to place red inked circles to show where to place the knots. The stitching is done with a combination of continuous flat stitches and knots. Tie strings appear to be missing.
So, is this belt vintage? It looks good from here. That being said, without personal inspection it is difficult to tell. Experience in dealing with these items is often the best way to lessen the difficulties over purchasing a fake haramaki. .....and there are fakes out there. In the last year I picked up two examples of fake senninbari. (Yes, I bought bad ones on purpose.) One came from Japan and the other from the U.S. Both were sold as reproductions, however. One looked pretty odd while the other looked really good. The seller of the second belt even told me how he made it look "real." Unfortunately, once enough of these fakes enter the market (if that happens) the better looking ones will come to be accepted as real. There are more specific things I could comment to here, but like the Chinese sword fakers , I choose not to make their jobs easier. mikeb

[Kryptos]

Yes it is indeed where I saw it. Here in South Africa, Japanese WWII items are almost non existent and being very new to the Japanese side, I must still find the good sales sites

I must thank you for taking the time to post such a solid answer. It is very much appreciated. In the light of this, I think I will hold back till I know a bit more about these items before just launching into the first one on offer that I see.

[kaigunair]

If I could add a small observation or two, the coins look period, so that would be one mark for this particular sennibari. Originally, each stitch on a sennibari would have been done by an individual person, usually a woman relative or well wisher. Later one, these were "mass produced" for soliders by women as part of many a home front war effort. I think the example pictured above is an example of the latter, since the back shows each knot is part of the same thread. MikeB is the expert on this topic, so I'd go with his advice or buy his book. Sad to know there are repros coming out on the market...

[Kryptos]

MikeB is the expert on this topic, so I'd go with his advice or buy his book.

Ooooh now that would be a great idea. What is the book called so I can start looking for it?

With my German collection I have come to know the frustration of the fakers alright.

[kaigunair]

http://gethistorytoday.com/

Imperial Japanese Good Luck Flags and One-Thousand Stitch Belts by Michael A Bortner.

Send MikeB an PM since he's the author!

[Kryptos]

Thank you for the info. Google did not disappoint and what a beautiful looking book. Will definitely be taking your advice on this one in due course.