u/Royal_Caribbean_Fan

I'm a militaria collector, not particularly of urushi pieces.

But I have this piece from the Russo-Japanese War I thought you guys might appreciate. It's a commemorative sake cup (sakazuki) from the Russo-Japanese war, made of urushi.

It's a fairly rare piece, especially such a mint example with such nice motifs and inscriptions.

Anyway, this is all the information and translations I know about the cup:

Imagery (Front of the Cup):

• Anchor: indicates a connection to the Imperial Japanese Navy.

• Naval Ensign (Kyokujitsu-ki): The "Rising Sun" flag with rays is the ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

• Cherry Blossoms: A deeply symbolic flower in Japan, representing beauty, transience, and the spirit of the samurai (and by extension, the Japanese warrior).

Inscriptions (Back of the Cup): Reading from right to left (traditional Japanese style):

• 明治丗七八年戦役紀念 (Meiji sanjūshichihachi-nen sen'eki kinen):

• 明治 (Meiji): Refers to the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

• 丗七八年 (sanjūshichihachi-nen): This means "37th and 38th years." So, the 37th year of Meiji was 1904, and the 38th year was 1905.

• 戦役 (sen'eki): Means "war" or "campaign."

• 紀念 (kinen): Means "commemoration" or "memorial."

Therefore, this entire line translates to: "Commemoration of the Meiji 37-38 War (1904-1905)." This refers to the Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 - Nichiro Sensō), which took place from February 1904 to September 1905.

• 山形市寄贈 (Yamagata-shi kizō):

• 山形市 (Yamagata-shi): Refers to Yamagata City, the capital of Yamagata Prefecture in Japan.

• 寄贈 (kizō): Means "donated by" or "presented by."

This line translates to: "Donated by Yamagata City."

This type of cup was likely presented by Yamagata City to individuals associated with the war effort, in this case naval personnel, given the prominent naval imagery on the front.

The cup would have been given to commemorate service, participation, or victory in the war.

Thanks for reading!

I had abandoned the hobby of collecting for a long time, I think my last purchase was 3 or 4 years ago.

But I found this beauty for only 30€ (if anyone knows the actual value then that information would be more than welcome) and I couldn't pass it up. It's a commemorative sake cup (sakazuki) from the Russo-Japanese war, made of lacquerware (resin covered wood I believe), known as urushi in Japan.

Many of you will be familiar with those ceramic small commemerative discharge / return ochoko sake cups fron WWII or the China Incident, with more colour.

They also made discharge urushi sakazuki in WWII.

But examples from the Russo-Japanese war are often of far better quality, and these urushi ones are completely handcrafted and examples of incredible craftsmanship.

If I am not mistaken they are also rarer, especially such a mint example with such nice motifs and inscriptions.

Anyway, this is all the information and translations I know about the cup:

Imagery (Front of the Cup):

- Anchor: indicates a connection to the Imperial Japanese Navy.

- Naval Ensign (Kyokujitsu-ki): The "Rising Sun" flag with rays is the ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

- Cherry Blossoms: A deeply symbolic flower in Japan, representing beauty, transience, and the spirit of the samurai (and by extension, the Japanese warrior).

Inscriptions (Back of the Cup):

Reading from right to left (traditional Japanese style):

- 明治丗七八年戦役紀念 (Meiji sanjūshichihachi-nen sen'eki kinen):

- 明治 (Meiji): Refers to the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

- 丗七八年 (sanjūshichihachi-nen): This means "37th and 38th years." So, the 37th year of Meiji was 1904, and the 38th year was 1905.

- 戦役 (sen'eki): Means "war" or "campaign."

- 紀念 (kinen): Means "commemoration" or "memorial."

 

Therefore, this entire line translates to: "Commemoration of the Meiji 37-38 War (1904-1905)." This refers to the Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 - Nichiro Sensō), which took place from February 1904 to September 1905.

- 山形市寄贈 (Yamagata-shi kizō):

- 山形市 (Yamagata-shi): Refers to Yamagata City, the capital of Yamagata Prefecture in Japan.

- 寄贈 (kizō): Means "donated by" or "presented by."

This line translates to: "Donated by Yamagata City."

This type of cup was likely presented by Yamagata City to individuals associated with the war effort, in this case naval personnel, given the prominent naval imagery on the front.

The cup would have been given to commemorate service, participation, or victory in the war.

Thanks for reading!

These two clips of the Castilian and Catalan dubs (subtitles added by myself) come from the episode known as The Painting Valuing Machine (Japanese: 名画しらべ機 meiga shirabe-ki), which is the 506th episode of the Doraemon 1979 series and it first aired on January 28th, 1981.

In this episode, Suneo shows off his father's expensive art collection. When Nobita finds his own drawing resembles a masterpiece, Doraemon uses the "Painting Valuing Machine" to check its worth. The machine reveals the drawing is worthless in the present but highly valuable in 1944 Europe.

They then travel to an unamed country in nazi-occuppied Europe. They meet a young girl and her grandfather, discovering a Nazi soldier is forcing the grandfather to draw in their mansion.

Then, Doraemon pulls out a little jar / gadget with a portrait of Hitler, and presents it as "Pills (or candies / sweets in the Spanish and Catalan dub) to be pretend to be Hitler!", he uses them to act as the Führer and get rid of the soldier.

The Spanish and Catalan dubs are interesting because in them Doraemon presents himself as the Führer, unlike the original Japanese dub where Doraemon presents himself as Doraemon, to which the soldier does the Hitlergruß and shouts "HEIL DORAEMON!".

Controversial little bit of cartoon history here.