In the previous article, I introduced attire example of Imperial Japanese Army medic. Here, I would like to take a closer look at the Bandage Kit (Hōtai-nō/包帯嚢) and the Medical Kit (Iryō-nō/医療嚢) that were carried by Japanese Army medics, while referring to primary sources and more.

Recipient of the Kit

The brown leather bags used during the Greater East Asia War period, including the Bandage Kit and Medical Kit , were standardized in Meiji 40 (1907) after the Japanese-Russo War, and they are referred to as the Type 40 Bandage Kit (Yonju-nen-shiki Hōtai-nō/四十年式包帯嚢) and the Type 40 Medical Kit (Yonju-nen-shiki Iryō-nō/四十年式医療嚢). Even in historical records before the Russo-Japanese War¹, these two types of bags are distinguished and are each mentioned in procurement documents. Furthermore, in 1934, the Kanto Army ordered medical supplies², and the Type 40 Bandage Kit and the Type 40 Medical Kit are mentioned in the documentation.

In the report titled “Opinions on Medical Supplies”³ from 1907, definitions and information about Bandage Kits and Medical Kits were provided. While it is likely that revisions were made as time passed, it can be considered that this document served as the foundation for the establishment of the Type 40 Bandage Kit and Type 40 Medical Kit at a later time.

According to this document, the recipients for each supply are as follows:

• The Bandage Kit
  • Medics (Kango-shu/看護手) assigned to the wartime high command
  • Medics assigned to units
  • Stretcher bearers
• The Medical Kit
  • Head medics (Kango-chō/看護長) assigned to units (excluding hospital-attached)

Kango-shu means soldiers and Kango-cho means non-commissioned officers, so Bandage Kits were for soldiers and Medical Kits were for non-commissioned officers.

Kit Contents

In reference to the contents of the Bandage Kit and Medical Kit , I will quote from the “The Opinions on Medical Supplies” Meiji 40. At the time, the names of medicines and other items were difficult, and it was unclear what they referred to. Therefore, I conducted research based on the English translation table found in the hygiene material list submitted to GHQ ^{4 5 6}. Interestingly, within this document, the term “包帯嚢” (Bandage Kit) was written as the “Bank Medical Kit”.

How to Get Replicas

Bandage Kit and Medical Kit are similar brown leather bags, but they have one distinct difference. These two types can be identified by the shape of the attached Red Cross emblem: the Bandage kit has a Red Cross in an oval shape, while the Medical Kit has a square-shaped Red Cross emblem.

The Bandage Kit and the Medical Kit are occasionally listed for sale on platforms like Yahoo! Japan Auctions, but they can be challenging to acquire. To the best of my knowledge, replicas offer the following options:

• Nakata Shōten
  • There used to be two types available in the lineup, the Bandage Kit and the Medical Kit, but currently, they are out of stock and unavailable.
  • You may need to search for used ones on Yahoo! Japan Auctions or similar platforms.
  • Canvas parachute Bandage Kit for the airborne units were also part of the lineup, but they are also out of stock. (I saw one on display at the Okachimachi store around 2018 but regretfully passed it by, and I have deeply regretted it since then…)
• S&Graf
  • They are currently selling the ‘Leather Medic Bag for the Army,’ which features an oval Red Cross Bandage Kit design (as of 2023).
  • Unfortunately, there is no Medical Kit design available.

Thanks to the S&Graf, it’s relatively easy to assemble the gears for a medic. If you want to have the gears for the meadures. medic sergeant, it’s advisable to either patiently search for a Square Red Cross emblem Medical Kit or modify an S&Graf Bandage Kit to suit your needs.

Note: Red Cross Patch

The Red Cross patch on the left arm can be purchased from HIKISHOP. On the upper right corner of this Red Cross patch, there is a stamp that says “Army Ministry Stamp” (Rikugun-shō-in/陸軍-省-印). However, the one I acquired had faded text, making it nearly illegible, so I retouched it with a red permanent marker.

However, the character ‘省’ (Shō/Ministry) which is on left top has a slight error with an extra vertical bar extending from the top left and a shorter vertical line on the left. While fixing the shorter line is relatively easy by using a permanent marker, dealing with the extra line may require some skill, such as using thinner to remove it. I have attached a photo below for reference, showing the corrected version.

Footnote

1. “Report on Inspection of Military Medical Supplies” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C02030423500, Military Confidential Receipt, Volume 1/3, Meiji 33.07-33.12 (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎
2. “Purchase of Sanitary Materials for Various Kanto Army Medical Stations” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C04011747900, from January 15, 1934, to January 22, 1934, “Man-ju-dai Diary (Common) Part 1 2/2” (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎
3. “The Opinions on Medical Supplies” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C10071820000, Meiji 40th year, Extra Edition Military System Investigation Report, Confidential (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎
4. “The List of Medical Materials/(Equipment)” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C15010848300, Conversion (Disposal) Records of Military Supplies, Part 1/2, August to December 1945 (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎
5. “The List of Medical Materials/(Pharmaceuticals)” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C15010848400, Conversion (Disposal) Records of Military Supplies, Part 1/2, August to December 1945 (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎
6. “The List of Medical Materials/(Consumables)” JACAR (Japan Center for Asian Historical Records) Ref.C15010848500, Conversion (Disposal) Records of Military Supplies, Part 1/2, August to December 1945 (Ministry of Defense, Defense Research Institute) ↩︎