Comfort bag - Imonbukuro

These bags were sent to soldiers in the battlefield to comfort them, and were filled with daily necessities, entertainment items, magazines, amulets, letters, etc. It began in March 1904 (Meiji 37), just after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, when a member of the Women's Temperance Union, inspired by the experiences of the American Temperance Union, made and sent 100 of them. The name "comfort bags" is a direct translation of "comfort bag." When the Manchurian Incident occurred in 1931 (Showa 6), a large-scale campaign to send comfort bags to soldiers in local units was launched, at the suggestion of a newspaper company, with the Women's Association for National Defense at the center. During the Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937, even more comfort bags were sent connecting the home front and the front line. They were also commercialized, and by 1938, ready-made comfort bags were priced at 2 to 5 yen each. As the war expanded and the number of soldiers increased dramatically, supplies became scarce, and transportation became difficult, the comfort bags also dwindled.

[Moriwaki Itsuo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戦地の兵士を慰問するため日用品や娯楽用品、雑誌、御守り、手紙などを入れて送る袋。日露開戦直後の1904年（明治37）3月婦人矯風会の会員が、アメリカ矯風会の経験談をヒントに、100個をつくり送ったのが始まり。慰問袋の名もcomfort bagの直訳。31年（昭和6）満州事変が起こると、新聞社の提唱で国防婦人会が中心となって郷土部隊の兵士に慰問袋を送る運動が大々的に展開され、37年からの日中戦争ではさらに大量の慰問袋が銃後と前線を結んだ。商品化もされ、38年にはできあいの慰問袋が1個2円から5円だった。やがて戦争が拡大、将兵数が激増し、物資欠乏、輸送困難となるにつれ、慰問袋も先細りとなった。

［森脇逸男］

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