Japanese Rations - WW II
A Friend in California
Longtime customer, re-enactor, and label contributor Tim Kano is pictured, left, at a re-enactment in his home state of California. Of interest to us is the table on Tim's left, which is shown in color below. We are honored that among the many authentic military artifacts gracing Tim's display, several of our reproduction rations are included.
Folks, this is what we are all about! Rations were the ultimate disposable item. Vital to troop health and fighting ability, once consumed the packaging was tossed, burned, or stomped into the mud. Hence the scarcity of the real thing. Our reproduction rations provide the collector and re-enactor with authentic-looking rations that are also as close to the real thing on the inside as possible. For instance, the Meiji Candy in our ration unit below is identical to the WW2 product, and is made by the original company. We buy them from an importer, prime, paint and relabel the tin, so that it looks authentic from the inside-out! It's a lot of work, but re-enactors like Tim are able to display our repro-rations alongside their genuine artifacts, and the end result is a complete collection with an authentic look.
We take great pride in the fact that our repro-rations have been used in classrooms, museums, personal collections, re-enactments, and movies.
Yup, that's our stuff all right.
Look in the top right quadrant of the table, 4 o' clock from the bugle. See that stack of blue parcels, and the green tin with the white-labeled can behind it?
ReproRations! Nestled among an outstanding collection of WW2 Japanese military relics.
Our Japanese WW2 reproduction rations are featured below, just in case you, too, would like to own some.
The information for these rations stems from various magazine and newspaper articles, the US Intelligence Service's "Soldier's Guide to the Japanese Army," many collector friends in Japan, the UK and the United States, and interviews with a few Australian and Japanese veterans of that conflict.
Japanese WW2 Ration Lot with Meiji Candy
Authentic in look and taste (but fresh from the grocer's shelves), in this ration lot you will receive a package of service issue green tea, a tin of Meiji hard candy which normally could be purchased from the Soldier's Store, a pack of Netsuryo Shokuy (High Nutrition Ration) which is a tasty high calorie emergency ration, a tin of oranges bearing the sparse markings of military issue rations, and a period cigarette box (thanks to our friend Tim Kano we have several different brands, so yours may not look exactly like the one pictured - AND it's empty so you can furnish your own brand).
This set can be used as an energy-producing snack in the field, or to round out your personal collection.
Japanese WW2 Meiji Candy Lot $15.95
Japanese WW2 Ration Lot with Tuna and Rice
This set contains various reproduction ration items that were available to Japanese soldiers early in the war. Not all of these items were available later. Some of them were military issue, others were sold through Soldier's Stores, Japan's version of the PX or NAAFI.
These would be found in a Japanese soldier's bread bag, or in the kit of an Allied soldier as spoils of war.
In this set you get a cigarette pack (empty) which will be selected from among several different brands; a box of compressed boiled (instant) rice, which was the main portion of the Compressed Ration (Assaku Koryo); a package of green service tea (after 1943, bulk issues of tea were made to most troops - when it was available. Individual packs such as this one reached specialized troops such as parachutists, tankers, aviators and special landing forces.); a tin of tuna, as sold in the Soldier's Stores; and a pack of hard biscuits (Kanpan) - supplied as a part of a preserved ration to all military personnel when possible - the paper wrapped cello packs are string tied as were the originals, and the biscuits are virtually identical to Kanpan.
These rations are fresh from the supplier and totally edible.
Japanese WW2 Tuna and Rice Ration Lot $13.95
