2 Japanese WWII Patriotic Women’s Assoc. Badges 3rd Class Merit Member BOX 愛國婦人會

Description

The Patriotic Women's Association (Aikoku Fujinkai
愛國婦人會
) is the oldest of the Japanese women's associations, having been founded on March 2, 1901 by Okumara Ioko. It was under the supervision of Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. By 1940, it had 6,500,000 members in Japan and overseas. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, there were association branches in Canada, the United States and Brazil, as well as in the various territories occupied by the Japanese armed forces. In February 1942, it merged with the Greater Japanese Women's Association for Protection of the Country and the Greater Japan Federation of Women's Associations into a new association which was called the Greater Japanese Women's Association.
In large box is 3
rd
Class Merit Badge, seldom seen, and in small is member badge, often seen without box.
Date: both late 1930s, early 1940s.
Condition: MERIT BADGE: tarnished, abrasions, red star missing (fairly common with these badges), box darkened with age some loss of gilt to the letters, scratches, abrasions and dents. MEMBER BADGE: black cloth added (presumably to mark loss of a family member), abrasions, discoloration, scratches. Box: scratches, dents, minor loss of gilt.
Reference: Paul L. Murphy & Steven L. Ackley: In the Name of a Living God: The non-government badges and medals of Imperial Japan, including Police, Fire Brigade, Fred Cross, Veteran and Patriotic Groups, Portland: Ackley Unlimited, 2005., p. 56-59.
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