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Sake Cup Presentation Documents
One of the unclear issues concerning military sake cups is who bought them and who
received them. The latter is fairly obvious except when one considers that these cups were
sold in stores as purely war commemorative items so oftentimes civilians would buy them.
When no regiment number nor personal name is inscribed, the cup could very well have been
bought and used by civilians.
Also there are some people who say that cups were bought by the division commander or
someone else high up the command chain and then given to the discharged soldier. This most
likely did happen, but the more common pattern was probably a member of the soldier's
family or perhaps a small group of peers bought the cup(s) for the soldier. Anyway, with each
individual cup all we can do is speculate unless the cup has a detailed inscription.
However, once in a while you will get lucky and find an original sake cup presentation
document. I have found only three of these, and none were with the original cup. (A picture of
a fourth was shown to me by another collector. It is a photograph of a sailor with a cup and
the accompanying document.) One of my documents shows the cup was given by a regiment
commander; the second was given by a soldier support group; the third by a militant
right-wing group, the Shoubu-kai.
I imagine that these types of documents were deemed disposable, unlike the documents
given with medals, so most were discarded over time. Two I have are for lacquered wood
cups, and one is for a silver cup. All are dated fairly early. More speculation here, but I think
that this practice of giving a document with a cup was not widespread.
With a document, one can understand about how cups were given and who gave them to
whom. This hallmarking is rare for cups, so I consider these types of documents small
historical treasures.
received them. The latter is fairly obvious except when one considers that these cups were
sold in stores as purely war commemorative items so oftentimes civilians would buy them.
When no regiment number nor personal name is inscribed, the cup could very well have been
bought and used by civilians.
Also there are some people who say that cups were bought by the division commander or
someone else high up the command chain and then given to the discharged soldier. This most
likely did happen, but the more common pattern was probably a member of the soldier's
family or perhaps a small group of peers bought the cup(s) for the soldier. Anyway, with each
individual cup all we can do is speculate unless the cup has a detailed inscription.
However, once in a while you will get lucky and find an original sake cup presentation
document. I have found only three of these, and none were with the original cup. (A picture of
a fourth was shown to me by another collector. It is a photograph of a sailor with a cup and
the accompanying document.) One of my documents shows the cup was given by a regiment
commander; the second was given by a soldier support group; the third by a militant
right-wing group, the Shoubu-kai.
I imagine that these types of documents were deemed disposable, unlike the documents
given with medals, so most were discarded over time. Two I have are for lacquered wood
cups, and one is for a silver cup. All are dated fairly early. More speculation here, but I think
that this practice of giving a document with a cup was not widespread.
With a document, one can understand about how cups were given and who gave them to
whom. This hallmarking is rare for cups, so I consider these types of documents small
historical treasures.
| Superb photo of a sailor with his sake cup and award document. The document is dated Showa 8 (1933) and shows this sailor served aboard the Warship Kako. He has a nice merit award silver cup with IJN anchor and blossom in the center. Thanks to Steve for this fine picture. |
Rough translation, from the right:
'Record
One Wood Sake Cup, One Item
The named item to the right is to be awarded
Meiji 36 [1903] November 27th
Yura Fortress Artillery Infantry Regiment Commander, Warrant Officer NCO
[The red stamp says the same thing. It is the official stamp of the NCO.]
Yanagisawa Kichisanro [name of the soldier who received the cup].'
'Record
One Wood Sake Cup, One Item
The named item to the right is to be awarded
Meiji 36 [1903] November 27th
Yura Fortress Artillery Infantry Regiment Commander, Warrant Officer NCO
[The red stamp says the same thing. It is the official stamp of the NCO.]
Yanagisawa Kichisanro [name of the soldier who received the cup].'
Rough translation, from the right:
'Meiji 27-8 [1894-5] War Service
For distinguished service and a victorious return, our group presents one wood sake cup.
Meiji 29 [1896] April 2nd
Miyagi Prefecture Welcoming Committee Leader, Holder of the 4th Class Rising Sun and 5th
Class Golden Kite Katsuma [?]
Army Infantry Sergeant 1st Class Takano Kinsanro [name of the soldier who received the
cup].'
'Meiji 27-8 [1894-5] War Service
For distinguished service and a victorious return, our group presents one wood sake cup.
Meiji 29 [1896] April 2nd
Miyagi Prefecture Welcoming Committee Leader, Holder of the 4th Class Rising Sun and 5th
Class Golden Kite Katsuma [?]
Army Infantry Sergeant 1st Class Takano Kinsanro [name of the soldier who received the
cup].'
Rough translation, from the right:
'1st Grade
One Silver sake cup, Army Infantry Superior Private Mori Tomokichi
For merit and distinguished service during military service we present a silver sake cup
Meiji 39 [1906] December 22nd
Nagoya City Shoubu-kai.'
'1st Grade
One Silver sake cup, Army Infantry Superior Private Mori Tomokichi
For merit and distinguished service during military service we present a silver sake cup
Meiji 39 [1906] December 22nd
Nagoya City Shoubu-kai.'