J002857 (IJA) COMFORT BAG & BOOKLET. A "Hokobukuro," used by the Japanese soldier to carry documents and other personal effects, and a brown oilcloth covered booklet. The 9 1/4" x 12", tan-colored rayon bag has a tunnel loop and drawstring along its open top. Printed, in black, to its obverse is a zig-zag pattern, underneath of which are three large kanji characters, vertically arranged, which translate, roughly, as "service public bag." To the left of the characters is a vertical rectangle with two small characters to its top division, which together translate as "surname," beneath which are four handwritten characters which one must assume to be the original owner’s name (the consigner reports that it is "Osawa Takumi"). A significant wear hole obscures most of the two last characters. To the reverse is a box with seven vertical columns of kanji characters whose, from right to left, second, third, fifth and sixth columns are, respectively, headed by the characters for the numbers one, two, three, and four. The bag is moderately to heavily age and usage soiled, with oxidization stains to its reverse, and, in addition to the larger hole to its obverse, several smaller holes may be seen along its base and to both sides. An illustration of a similar bag, with the same three large kanji characters as previously mentioned, may be seen on page 266 of Mike Hewitt’s "Uniforms And Equipment Of The Imperial Japanese Army In World War II." The 3 1/2" x 5 1/2", 196 page booklet has two columns of kanji characters stamped, in silver, to its cover (which is the reverse cover as the book is read from right to left). All of the interior script is in Japanese, and there is one fold-out page between pages 136 and 137, which appears to be a tactical map showing advancements over a period of several days. All of the pages are age yellowed and lightly soiled, with the end papers being more moderately soiled. Its cover exhibits only light wear and soiling.

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