World War II Japanese soldier protection charm. JAPAN, AKITA, 100 mon ND (1863 AD) Fukoku Kyohei / tiger. Iron. Very rare. Inscription on reverse : SAMUHARA > japanese patron saint of longviety Inscription on obverse rim : Kotei Banzai 皇帝萬歳 > long live the emperor Although shaped after the local Mito trade coinage of Japan, the characters used is completely different. These 4 kanji or Chinese characters are fantasy characters which does not exist in either Chinese or Japanese dictionaries. Without even a proper pronunciation, they are magic characters representing the Japanese patron saint of longevity Samuhara and are often invoked in mantras or charms of Shinto origin. In particular, practitioners of Aikido often recite or remembers this characters from the works and teachings of Morihei Ueshiba This charm likely belonged to a Japanese soldier who carried it with him as a protective amulet during the Japanese invasion of South East Asia.
What a beautiful charm. I hope it helped the Japanese soldier return home safe (though the odds are that it probably did not).
Yeah.. times of war.. hopefully he did or better stayed back after the war and this could leave been left by his ancestors
Loong-S => wow, that's an awesome OP-score!! I remember you telling me/us a while back that animals on these Asian types are quite rare, so obviously I "love" this animal-example!! (great lion)
Thanks buddy.. Been busy lately and slow on new collections.. appreciate your encouragement to post more here..
Thanks @stevex6 .. you're right with the animals on Asian types.. apart from charms, only a handful like this actually cast them this way..
