mickey

hi brian nice to see some cups I have a collection also and am lucky to have some of the rarer ones this is one of my favourites made at a time of huge political change in japan its early meiji and inscribed bunmei kaika or civilization and enlightenment indicating the absorption of all things western and shows the change from the sword to the rifle as well as the national flag (thanks rich catalano for translation) what I like is every cup tells a story

and an example of his light machine gun badge

thanks for the info guys much appreciated

hi all does anyone have any info on the issueing of these medals were they given for actual rescues or say financial donation all I have seen is for merit, pre war example, nice artwork on the obverse I believe today the society is called marine rescue and works with the coastguard

thanks for the reply mervyn the fereday chest webbing I saw sold for $550 us dollars not long ago its just I want to insure my Rhodesian items separately after seeing what they sell for

hi all one of my brothers served with the bsap support unit during the 70s and on his leave visits to south Africa always brought down some bits and pieces with him including this uniform I have the trousers and badged shirt as well it has the blackened belt as worn by the unit my question is more about the chest webbing it has the fereday and sons camping fishing shooting, manica rd Salisbury label on the reverse 4 fn/r1 mag pouches and 2 grenade pouches I have an idea about the value of Rhodesian uniforms but have found it difficult to value the webbing just havent seen an original one sold until recently which sold for over $500 us just wondered if any members have an idea

hallmark on rim not easy to photograph

another one, reads merit conquer china commemorative tochigi prefecture the old kanji for china is used I believe this dates it to the 1894/5 war (thanks rich catalano for translation) its hallmarked on the edge ,push button latch

hi all another medal from this period, army to protect family assoc saga prefecture meiji 27 (1894)

or this bar rising sun ,sacred treasure,taisho,siberian,showa,manchurian incident,manchurian foundation,red cross

thanks guys

thanks nick any idea what the first medal on the bar is

oops forgot the pics

after a long time looking finally purchased this badge I have seen info on rich catalanos excellent site and wanted to see if this particular badge can be dated I note some of these badges are insciribed on the reverse the badge was in service from 1911 to 1944 according to the info I have seen

One appeared here in nz a couple of weeks ago China incident award document paired with an original medal

from the same batch later era photo of someone important

hi all I recently purchased a couple of photos from japan included was this one taken by a studio in Osaka no details except that it was a meiji era picture it looks like he is wearing the 1874 war medal any comments appreciated

couple here

slightly different angle

thanks for the link nick I forgot to look first, as a note I found some detailed research by a group of Japanese aviation researchers who note that of the 89 known recipients of the award almost all were aviators on operations against the b29 bombers and only 5 1st class awards were given to pilots, the first were awarded to Cpl itagaki and sgt nakano of the 244 sentai air ramming unit in December 1944 for each bringing down a b29 by ramming both survived but it doesn't say what class

hi all I have never seen this award being worn found a photo of captain teruhiko kobayashi, fighter pilot, awarded in may 1945 also an earlier photo of him and his crew chief with his tony aircraft

Thanks for your replies guys

hi all i collect japanese military items but not swords i found this sword in a bay of islands antique shop around 6 years ago propped up in a corner owner said i could have it for 100 dollars (nz)its not mint but a nice addition to my collection my question is the small attachment on the handle has clasped hands i note some sword dealers place some significance on this does anyone have any info as to why thanks

of interest nick i have 8 group photos of this unit all show between 13 and 15 soldiers 4 of the photos have 2 soldiers wearing the nco badge 1 photo shows 4 wearing the badge and 1 showing 3 with the badge and 2 with no nco badge maybe an insight as to the percentage issued ????

same unit interesting badges on this guy sorry just cant get a clear shot on macro