What's new

Please help me finish translating Japanese WWII Dog Tag (I tried)

ViniVidiDejaVu

VeniVidiDejaVu
24 Apr 2014
59
0
16
Greetings! I have been trying to translate the attached dog tag, but was only able to complete half of it (the easiest part). I would greatly appreciate help in finishing this task. Also, if you have any idea what the information means that would be very helpful. Thank you!
Mike
IMG_2745.jpg
 
It looks just like a bunch of numbers with no particular meaning (the numbers 6, 5, 5, 4, running down the right side. The very top right corner has the kanji 垣 ("kaki", fence).

Maybe has some significance that a military buff could explain, but to me its just a random bunch of numbers and an equally random kanji.

Edit: Did some digging around on the internet. This looks to be from the Japanese army infantry's 9th regiment.
大日本者神國也 -歩兵第九聯隊(垣六五五四、中部第三十七部隊)他/第十九旅團司令部/京都第一陸軍病院

2nd Edit: Thanks to nekojita's post below, amend that to Japanese Infantry 16th Division 9th Regiment
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the quick response, Majestic! What does the bottom kanji in the middle column mean, the diagonal single stroke?
 
Thank you again, Toritoribe. Do you know if "no" has any particular meaning after the string of numbers?

Nekojita: Thank you so much; I was hoping for an identification of his unit! And thank you for providing reference material to further my knowledge. Would column 1 (1-3-3-2), or column 2 (1000-3-6 no) have any meaning to you. Presumably they used some method to identify the soldier. Thank you,
Mike
 
Thank you again, Majestic. I will utilize a translation program; this and nekojita's offerings provide me with a great starting point for research, and plenty of reading for the evening!

Mike
 
Do you know if "no" has any particular meaning after the string of numbers?
It's equivalent to "of/in" in English; 1332(soldier) of/in 1036(battalion), for instance.
As you might know, Japanese sentences are read from right to left when written vertically (垣6554 1036ノ1332).
 
ありがとうございます!(Google Translate) Toritoribe; and the last piece of the puzzle seems to fall into place. I forgot about reading right to left, as on my Yosegaki. I have discovered that the 16th Division was formed in 1905 for the Russo-Japanese War. During the Great East Asian War they were at the 2nd Shanghai Incident and Battle of Nanjing (1937), Battles of Xuzhou and Wuhan (1938), Philippines, Bataan, and Corregidor (1941-42, and their final battle at Leyte (1944).

Thank you Toritoribe, Majestic and nekojita for steering me in the right direction!
Mike
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom