Gratitude to Military Animals ( War horses , War dogs ) / Imperial Japanese Army

[ 1939 Japanese Vintage Army Postcard Memorial for "The Exhibition of Gratitude to Military Animals" held by Higashi (East) Honganji (Buddhism Temple) ] supported by Ministry of Army

( my website category relating to military animals )

The Emperor Meiji's Waka (japanese poem) relating to military animals.

[ Horses ]
" If they were human, tokens of honor would have been given to them, Now those wild horses stand in the military garden." ( = the stone monument memorial for dead war animals)

To realize the Emperor's grace, in the 1930's, the decorations for not only horses but war dogs & pigeons have been established.
Also, army held Buddhist memorial services for dead military animals, that is still being practiced now every year at the Yasukuni Shinto Shrine.

[ 1930's Japanese Army Postcards for the War Horse Festival & the Beloved Horse Memorial Day. ]