Japanese Aircraft shaped Badge

Had some time to clean it up and repair/replace the badge on the back.

Almost definately – people made and sold anything in the immediate aftermath just to eat, and I would imagine that a box of surplus pistons and a plentiful supply of trophy hunting GI’s may have made a good business model. More likely a managers desk ornament or something for the boardroom.

Just a thought..

Yes, thank you; your post is of great interest.

I agree entirely about the large kanji markings being added after the piston was made into an ashtray; it is clearly nothing to do with it being part of an engine but I’m not sure about the other markings. I’ve also seen piston ashtrays manufactured by the companies that made pistons during the war as promotional gifts or souvenirs but only by companies that ended-up on the winning side. I wonder would these sort of things have been produced in post-war Japan?

My apologies for hijacking this thread but I wonder if those with oriental language skills would take a look at these for me. They are engraved into an aviation related object but other than the fact that they are Japanese (or Chinese) I am clueless to their origin or meaning.

I’m putting two and two together to make five here, but to me that pair of Kanji reads ‘Sei’ and ‘Ren’. Combined to form ‘Seiren’, you would have the trade name of a long established Japanese firm which – from the mid 1930s until the end of the Pacific War – made parts for use in aircraft production, NAGOYA SEIREN CO. LTD. ( Nagoya Seiren Kabushiki Kaisha ). The Nagoya area of course was a hotbed of engineering activities at that time.

The company still exists, and has migrated ( via industrial machinery manufacture ) into the textiles field. Many such companies had to find alternative avenues of business from 1945 onwards. I’m pretty sure a polite e-mail or letter to their head office in Tokyo – with photos of the object – would elicit a considered response.

However, I would not expect to see a manufacturers name stamped so heaviliy into the crown of a piston. Quality control / grading marks maybe, but I’d expect to see the mnfrs marks inside the piston, and cast in rather than stamped. The fact that this piece has been turned into an ashtray might be the answer to that; If the crown becomes the base then the maker’s mark ( and – possibly – the supplier of the ‘gift’ ) is hidden underneath. So, put on later perhaps? Left over pistons becoming corporate souvenirs? I’ve seen similar before.

A word about ‘Kanji’, and ‘old’ Kanji: One thing that’s always worth keeping in mind is that Chinese-derived Kanji are actually ideograms. They are not ‘letters’, ‘syllables’ or ‘words’ as such ( although the commonest used ones become that… ) and if they are taken out of context then they are all the more difficult to read and understand. The readings and meanings of Kanji are often modified by the Kanji that are placed next to them, and when you are reading old Japanese texts it can be very tricky to read them let alone understand them. Modern sources will often help you to read and understand the more unusual and obscure Kanji by printing the phonetics in Hiragana in a smaller case right above them or alongside them ( furigana and kumimoji, respectively ). It’s a great help.

When you take into account the fact that there are around three to four thousand Kanji in common use in Japan today, and that probably ten times as many as that could be used ( ‘JIS’ / Japanese Industrial Standards count more than 10,000 ) it’s no wonder that such stampings and engravings can be hard to decipher. The Japanese government made great efforts to reform and simplify the system post war, and many of the more esoteric Kanji were gradually dropped or simplified.

Hope that’s of help / interest…

Was there some meaning to the ‘|’ symbol being used rather than a ‘1’ (other than the possibility that the ‘1’ stamp had been lost)?

I like your idea about a marking for the selective fitting of piston / bore; I’ve seen weights and sizes marked on pistons and it is as good a suggestion as anything I’ve come up with.

I’d date the piston between 1930 and 1945; it is big (150mm bore) and beautifully made. I’d say it was from a radial engine and its design has a ‘British’, rather than American, feel about it.

I can’t believe it was made during wartime so I’m guessing it was (very professionally) made post-war in a ‘ploughshares from swords’ sort of way, possibly for occupying American forces.

At least the kanji don’t say ‘I hope you get cancer you imperialist dog!’ 😀

Been cogitating over the numbers, and the only idea I can come up with is they might be the size and weight category.

In mass production everything is almost the same but it’s best to match the bore as closely as possible so for example an engine with one bore in the ‘8’ size range is matched with a piston of the same range. Each bore could be different. These variances will be small (100ths of a mm) but help to maximise power and reliability. The second step is the weight so that all the pistons have a similar mass – again the deviation is small – con-rods are also matched by mass. Result is less vibration and better reliability.

Sorry that got a bit long winded 🙂

What a cool and informative thread! Thanx all

I think a lot of kanji has fallen into disuse since the war due to it’s relative lack of flexibility. A lot of westernised terms are used – Brake becomes Buraku for example, where there isn’t a relevant or convenient Kanji or Japanese word available.

Add in the joy of Hiragana (for traditional Japanese phonetics) and Katakana (for westernised phonetics) and it’s little wonder it gets confused! Many younger people are using less Kanji in preference for Hiragana, hence the term “Old Kanji” as some characters fall out of regular use.

What are they on/from?

They’re on this; an aircraft piston ashtray. I didn’t say earlier as I was interested in a translation without it being (possibly) influenced by the object itself.

Any ideas (anybody) about the meaning of ‘|8,|4’ that is stamped into the underside? I don’t think it is a date (even on the Japanese calendar) but it doesn’t seem to have any meaning in relation to the ashtray either. I thought possibly it was something to do with the piston before it was made into an ashtray.

I’ve no idea what type of engine the piston comes from, other than to say it is unlike anything I can identify, but I had hoped that the Japanese characters may have given a clue.

I wonder how old the ‘old kanji’ are?

Thanks for your (and your friend’s) help with this.

I think the earlier posts saying that it’s some kind of award for collecting metal or similar for the war industry is spot on.

I’ll ask our Nihongo Sensai next time she is in the office – if anyone will know the mystery Kanji she will!

John/mhuxt and Bager thank you for the translations of the badge.

I have been to Japan four times although mainly Tokyo, Chiba, Tsukuba, Niigata etc. ( even as far as Nagoya) Never quite got my mind around Kanji.

I am still not sure what the badge was for… Your friends translation of “we aim to help” agrees with ” for helpful people” for the top line.

The vertical line is still ambiguous. A location or a location childrens association. Any way of clarifying ?

Thanks again for all the help.

What are they on/from?

The left one says something like train for a better/stronger spirit or body, and the second denotes “organise”.

Old kanji again apparently (my friend says).

Hope this helps 🙂

My apologies for hijacking this thread but I wonder if those with oriental language skills would take a look at these for me. They are engraved into an aviation related object but other than the fact that they are Japanese (or Chinese) I am clueless to their origin or meaning.

I had intended to try to translate them myself but this thread has changed my mind!

A second opinion.

According to my Japanese friend it says:

Yakudutsu Hitoni – We want or aim to help (accross the wing)

Either Okua or Ohmori Kodomo Kai (the second kanji is definatly a little old) down the fusalage, and this is a Childrens Council or Society in Okua/Ohmori.

So that confirms mhuxt’s top line with now 3 possible locations for the fusalage!

As for the logo she thinks its a location again – like a district badge with the star denoting an award of some type. She initially thought it was the same as the 2nd kanji down. Certain that it isn’t Nakajima/Kawasaki/Mitsubishi.

Don’t worry about kanji being repeated – two kanji together often have an entirely different meaning to a single one. The main reason that I gave up trying to read Japanese!

Oh and give me a Japanese girl over a western girl any day!! One of the reasons that there will be fingernail marks all the way to the aircraft seat when they drag me back to Blighty in a month (after 4 years).

Thank you chaps..Payment in beer authorised.

I work for a Japanese company – but don’t want to ask my contacts about non pharmaceutical activities – especially when I am on holiday this week.

I see that Nakajima started in 1918 but were mainly active in aircraft in the second war. Also no mention of an Osaka plant.

So likely a reward for the Japanese Nakajima equivalent of pots for Spitfires ?

The badge is in blue enamel on brass but appears to have been buried for a while.. Couldn’t see anything like it so fare elsewhere.

That character which I think is the saka in Osaka (means Great [O] hill [saka]) is now officially pissing me off. Not least because, on closer examination, I think it’s repeated top left where I first thought it said Nakajima – looks like they’ve compressed the two kanji into quite a small space.

Will ask the wife if she can recognise it. I will incur her wrath as a result (“Are you still using the net for stupid airplane stuff instead of for work?”) so you will owe me a beer. A smaller one than normal, as it will be Saturday, but a beer nonetheless.

Never marry a Japanese girl. Your free advice for the day.

Could well be. Either way, the badge is for a kid who’s helped out in some way.

Or for those participating in, say… a scrap metal drive… or something similar to help the war effort?

During WW1 there were many women’s/girls’ social clubs that “did their part” by cutting up plain cotton cloth into the appropriate-length and width strips, rolling them, and wrapping them in waxed paper… they were then dropped off at the local Red Cross office. They received a pin for “making bandages for the troops”.

One of the kanji is old-style, so I can’t be exactly sure.

Top row is written right to left and says: “Yaku tatsu hito ni” (For helpful people). Symbol on the top left may be Nakajima, characters are obscure but top one certainly looks like Naka.

Centre row is written top to bottom and looks like “Osaka kodomo kai” (Osaka children’s association). The saka in Osaka is the one which is old-style, pretty certain though.

My SWAG is that it’s a badge given out by a Nakajima factory to kids in Osaka who do some task or another in the factory, but that’s a swag, much more certain about the translation.