fukuoka

The pics were those sent to me, so they aren't the greatest. Opinions?

Here are pics

trying to post pics...

Yes, wonderful pictures. Thanks Nick (and others). Question: Someone sent me pics of a Grand Cordon Rising Sun Paulownia Flowers in this type of box (ambassador to Japan, was claimed--no documents to support this). The owner asked me a value. I said $7000? $8000? USD. Was that off-base? Anyone ever seen the price this medal was sold at? Supposed 1940s vintage

The order is indeed obvious using common sense, since most of the other medals are specified to go in the same order. However, my point was that this medal was not included in the officially-printed order of precedence. This order was in all the medal handbooks. And this may be a reason so many are in nice condition: some people may have neglected to wear it since it was excluded in the description. For those who decided to wear it, chronological order made the most sense.

One reason may be that they were not usually worn on medal bars. The official orders of precedence never included this medal in the ranking, for unknown reasons. The 1930 Korean census medal was never included, either. (Full details are in my ebook #2! SHAMELESS PLUG AGAIN...) Does anyone have photos of this medal on a medal bar? I am sure some people put them in despite the official order.

'A Set of Tools for an Emergency Landing.' (不時着用の七つ道具 fujichakuyou no nanatsu dougu）

Gensui's 2nd entry is probably correct. Or maybe: Fujino Kichishichirou

Translating a line or a phrase is usually not a problem for those who can read the language. But asking for a full article translation? A bit much, IMO. Remember you are asking strangers to donate their time for free. Translation, if you do not know, is not always a quick, easy task. Make the volume less heavy and you'll get better results.

It is a catalog, but only for those who have already received a medal. You have to submit your award document or similar documents to be able to buy them. This is explicitly stated on the webpage. The auction price is indeed high, of course, and I don't want to claim that the miniature is certainly worth that much, but at least two people thought as much. Just a thought: how many Sacred Crown miniature medals (official ones only) have you ever seen, in pictures or in person? I would bet you haven't seen many. Less than 10? Less than 5? Or maybe this 6th Class was the first of that class that you have ever seen? That scarcity is exactly why the medal went for such a high price. And despite people disparaging the reverse, the obverse detail is quite impressive for such a tiny medal.

Nick, they are not freely available. If you have proof that you were awarded a medal, you can have one made privately. And at your own expense. They are not available for purchase by anyone. Actually, that is exactly why the Crown went so high. Not only are there few 6th Class medals, few of the recipients would have ordered (and paid for) a miniature. BTW, I am not sure how much one would cost from the Mint. But I suppose they are pricey.

Similar one here: http://imperialjapanmedalsandbadges.com/medalbars.html I labeled it 'Meiji era' so it must be true...

badge

Another fine piece for your consideration

And the contents, which I cannot read.

Some paper to go with the White Elephant order

The Rescript states that the medals were to be awarded to 1. those who participated in battle during this war 2. others who were in the military and stationed in the area during this war 3. those who were attached to the military forces in some way and performed work for the Army and Navy in the area 4. those who cared for those wounded in the conflict [i.e., the caregivers must have been in the area, too] 5. those who belonged to a unit that served in the conflict 6. those who served on transport vehicles and vessels that aided during and after the conflict 7. members of the foreign allied forces who also participated in the battle That's a lot of people.

double-posted, sorry

I am sure the well-known sellers on ebay will use this info (without acknowledgement) to build up their item descriptions. 'On the shoulders of giants' as they say. (Of course, I have to acknowledge that I am always standing on shoulders as well...)

Comparing with the Blue Ribbon Medal is not exactly fair. Japanese people, being extraordinarily protective of privacy (personal opinion based on 20 years of residence), do not feel as comfortable selling named items on the market as they do about unnamed. Especially when they have to do with merit awards. In my opinion, that is why the Medal of Honor award documents so rarely hit the market--they contain a large amount of personal info. and the Blue medals have individual names engraved on the reverse. So while the numbers minted are similar, the number you see is smaller. Although the above is conjecture based on anecdotal evidence, I feel strong about it. Numbers for the Korean Census medal are not in the documents I have, sorry to say. I wish they gave numbers for each medal, but not every document was included in the collection. However, I can give you the number ordered for the Boxer Rebellion War Dispatch Medal: 54,000.

35,000 seems like a good figure, just on the surface. How many do you see on auction each month? 5? 10? I think the higher number is possible--10 each month on ebay. And then say you watch the auctions for 10 years, and if the numbers remained constant, you would have seen 1,200 different medals (not even thinking about medals that get re-circulated in the collecting field). That means you still would have seen only a small percentage of the actual medals minted. Now of course, I don't think anyone has written down all the auctions for the last 10 years, but I don't think you are seeing 10 of these medals for sale every month, are you? We have to think of worldwide sales, I know, but still... Even if you double the numbers (20 each month) you get a small fraction of 35,000. The source I have is the 100 years of the Decoration Bureau records. Only the primary documents have been transcribed, so there is no summary or commentary. That being said, 35,000 medals were budgeted on January 18, 1930. The raw materials for each medal cost 1,000 yen each, for a total of 35,000 yen. The minting costs (total, not including the raw materials) were 52,500 yen. The cases for that number of medals cost 200 yen each--total of 7,000 yen. The ribbons cost 300 yen each. The paper wraps were 90 yen each. What excellent, trivial information! Prized by only a few... perhaps even less than a few.

Every example I have seen had the Japan Mint 'M' hallmark. Unmarked specimens exist?

My information came from an extraordinary source I just got yesterday: 2000 pages of primary documents from the Decorations Bureau. I had no idea this 2-volume set existed, and was surprised to find it. So excited since there is medal info on every page. Not always the kind we are looking for, but I am sure I will find a lot in here. Let me look closer at the numbers for this medal (numbers are not given for every medal, sorry to say...) to confirm. (BTW, the same chart showed that 42, 000 paper wraps were ordered.)

Only (?) 35,000 minted, if I am not mistaken.

I have just found official documents from the Decorations Bureau that show exactly who was to receive these--and the number of medals they expected to give. And the group does indeed include collaborators from Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, and the South Pacific territories. No apologies necessary for those who said I was misleading customers on my ebay auction. It just made sense--strengthened by the home front medal description from Nick Komiya. Those who contributed to the war effort would have been eligible for one of these medals. And those who contributed from abroad would both get the medal and be looked down upon by his/her countrymen. Full details, including numbers, will be included in my February newsletter issue. Sorry to plug my wares...