Richard LaTondre

I have photographs of many of the current ROC awards if they would be helpful. (These are the medals currently available in the uniform shops of Shi Men Ding at relatively low cost.) I also have a few of some of the older awards. Just let me know if they are of interest. I have no financial interest in flogging them; just want to help if I can.

What a great offer. Maybe we can get together in the near future. I am winding up my current project "The Golden Kite" There is an old, old, first draft of the translation at:

www.thegoldenkite.com

This is a true story based on this Japanese hero that road on hordeback from Berlin to Vladivostok checking out the Trans-Siberian railroad prior to Japan declaring war on Russia.

Best Regards,

Dick

At $15 a copy, I'd happily buy each of the four.

Thanks Hugh,

That would mean I only lost $340.00 so far. I am off to a good start.

Dick

I know a publisher who will do as few as 10-20 copies, within a few weeks, at no cost to you, and sell for as little as $15.

And has this been discussed with the OMSA?

As a published author, I can tell you factually, that you cannot publish a book of colored images of medals on glossy stock for $15.00 and a run of only 10 copies. I discussed this with OMSA.

Detailed textual information and serious research, not just lovely images. Actually, what we need is a high quality (English-language or bllingual) book in four volumes on Chinese awards (1- Imperial, 2- early republic and warlords, 3- PRC, and 4- Taiwan).

I completed a project on the above about three years ago. The work has been compiled by several contributing authors/collectors, that are experts in their fields. It has been photographed and mensurated in both digital as well as traditional photographic processes. At a cost of roughly US100.00 per copy to publish a run of 500 to 1,000 this would need a minimum investment of $50,000 to $100.000. Any suggestions you may offer will be greatly appreciated.

Dick LaTondre

And, therefore, it isn't "communist"?

Can someone with The Power move it, please?

We have actually gotten some lovely post-Imperial and pre-Revolutionary Chinese items over on the OMSAS site,and more to come. Now we just need some information!

What is meant by more information?

Dick LaTondre

Hi Richard, valid and good point, never thought about that option, if they are yours, feel free to do what you want with them, and wait to see if you get condemned.

regards

Alex

After 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and serving in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam, I may have a different view on this subject.

Good points, all. But, Dick, how does one obtain eternal life? Like it or not, we are NOT the owners of these medals. The only 'owner' is the usually deceased recipient. It was his or her award, and he or she had certain rights. These included the right to reribbon, to modify (for example, screwback to pinback), to use fine enamel or nasty nail polish to repair enamel problems, or to carve their name on the reverse. All these rights lapsed with the death of the only real owner. Thereafter, we have become merely one in a string of custodians (unless Dick's eternal life magic is made public) who have rented (often with a hefty pricetag) the right to host this award for a few years or decades. Whether we see the medal as a short-term investment or a lifetime friend, we have only one right: to recognise that we do not have the right to make permanent changes to the medal and have the solemn duty to research the recipient to whatever extent we can so as to preserve their memory. Then, in a few decades, we pass the medal on to the next custodian in a chain that, we hope, stretches on into the future unless some intervening busy-body vandal mutilates the piece of history that once lay in our hands in and our collection.

Sorry, guys, this is something I feel strongly about. I see this 'hobby' as being 'about' history and a debt to the past and not about crass personal property or easy greedy profits. These are not 'things' or 'private possessions', these are the only tangible pieces surviving of a person's life and history.

On the contrary. Some of us ARE the owners of these medals

Hi both Ed and Eric raise some good points, I like shiny well enamelled decorations and have many in that condition, I also have several enamelled ones which do have enamel damage (I actually asked a similar question in an earlier post of mine, do I repair or not, I was convinced that it's best not to, as it's part of it's history.). That being said, does how the enamel damage ocurred make a difference?, If it was through honest recipient wear and tear, then leave alone, but what if it was through a "Modern" accident, such as being dropped, or otherwise damaged, is there an argument for restoring it back to it's known "Original" condition? Just my thoughts

regards

Alex

Perhaps the question that should be asked, is what is the final disposition of this medal going to be?

1. Did I obtain this medal for my own private collection to enjoy forever ?

2. Did I obtain this medal for possible furure trade or sale ?

I think that in the case of Nr. 1, this would be the prerogative of the owner and he should be able to do as he wishes.

In the case of Nr. 2, he would have responsibilities to maintain its original condition and not perform any modifications to the medal.

Just a thought

Dick

Thanks Dick,

here's the only other photo I can find with thJapanese soilder.

He is wearing a lighter colored uniform and the tabs are quite dark. Red?

A much more casual photo.

Child in front is Gleb and behind him is his Mother My GGrandmother.

Masao Hisamitsu may have been a family friend..My GGrandparents had business contacts in Japan before the revolution 1918.

George, I think you may be right. The color red would denote infantry and that would certainly make sense.

If he were wearing boots and the tab was green it would be cavalry.

You should contact "Yash" (S. G. Yasinitsky) OMSA member #0001. He lived in that area as a kid and later moved to Harbin. You might have some things in common.

Dick

They only lived in Chita for 2 yrs.

1919 1920 then moved to Harbin.

Thanks

George

What a wonderful photo. How many stars are on his shoulder badge ? With one central gold stripe he is an NCO so depending on the number of stars a corporal, sergeant or senior sergeant.

That is indeed a great photograph. It appears that the soldier is wearing the rank of Sergeant Major. Two stars would be Sergeant, and one star would be Corporal. What would be of great interest would be the color of his collar tabs which would denote his service branch, i.e., Cavalry, infantry, engineers, etc.. His unit numbers are pretty well faded. The sword appears to be the Model 1898 type 32 that is identified on page 14 of "Japanese Military Uniforms 1930 - 1945" as "Sergeant Major Sword".

Baron General Yasumasa Fukushima, while as a young Major reconoitering the Russian Trans-Siberian Railroad prior to the 1904 War, makes the following entry in his journal on January 15th 1893:

"I descended the Yablonovy Mountains and arrived at the outskirts of the city of Chita. This is my 11th day of travel since leaving Ulan Ude. Chita city had a population of 12,000 inhabitants controlled by the local military governor. The area was known as the highlands plateau area and rainfall was very scant due to the city's location East of the mountains. The land is very poor for agriculture and there is no apparent industry. There is not even a bank in the city"

Dick LaTondre

The post that I was refering to was yours of June 11, 07.

As I am limited in the amount of photo space I had only posted the obverse of the medal. Enclosed is a photo of the reverse.

Regards

Jim

Thanks Jim

It appears that you have one of the more common versions of the Great East Asia War Medal.

To my knowledge there exist three versions of this medal:

1. The version in the OMSA monograph by Peterson which reads from left to right on the suspension bar. This is the extremely rare version as only one has been reported and that was by Jeff Floyd who purchased the medal from the Peterson estate.

2. The Common version that reads from right to left with the shield on the reverse (which appears to be your medal). Possibly an earlier version.

3. Another version that reads from right to left with a map of East Asia on the reverse. Possibly a newer version.

The obverse of the medal appears to be similar in all cases with the exception of some variants that show miniature stars or anchors on the circular rim that surrounds the medal, in place of the standard blossoms.

I am sure that other variants exist and will be brought to light as research continues.

Dick

"....About 10,000 were struck at the Osaka Mint before the war ended, but the Allied Occupation authorities ordered the destruction of the remaining stocks, so it is a very rare medal...."

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals..._medals-ww2.htm

After that copies were made for Vetrans Association's.

Yes I know. Did you mean to send this to Jim?

I have had this medal in my collection for about 20+ years and would like to know if it is an original medal. It does not match up to the one in the revised OMSA book but the last post noted that the OMSA medal was a variation? I tried the site with the photo but it would not come up. Appreciate your help.

Jim

Jim:

It is not quite clear at this time as to what is meant by the term 'original' medal.

Please tell me what post refered to the medal in Peterson's monograph as being a variation.

Does the reverse of your medal show the shield with characters or the map of East Asia?

Dick

Hi Colin

Thanks for the great link.

Richard

Thanks Paul,

I saw the medal (beautiful photography) and the Great East Asia War Medal illustrated was not the same as the one illustrated in Peterson's monograph. Jeff Floyd solved the problem when he stated that he had sold the medal he purchased from Peterson's estate and it was the medal used for the photograph in his book. The Kanji on Peterson's Medal reads from left to right. The medal sold at Morton and Eden was not the same as the rare version described on page 51 of Peterson's book as the latter inscription reads from right to left. Thanks for your great input. I think we may now put this matter to rest.

Keep Collecting!

Dick LaTondre

ANS part 3 Morton and Eden 26/4/07 lot 239. Image available WWWMortonandeden.com. follow links for past sales.

All the best,

Paul

Is there anyone out there in 'collector land' that has, or has ever seen, an 'original' Great East Asia War Medal as described in Peterson's monograph published by OMSA.

Thanks for taking your time for reading this and more thanks for any input you may have.

Richard LaTondre

I agree. Item 4 is a fake. The tigers paws should be lower and in line.

Richard

let me try to id them:

item-1:Order of the Precious and Brilliant Golden Grain,only the base-part,and i agree post#18;

item-2:Order of the Golden Grain;

item-3:Order of the Precious and Brilliant Golden Grain,2nd-class,but missing the stone in center;

item-4:Order of the Striped Tiger,fake item;

item-5:Order of the Golden Grain,6th-class;

item-6:Order of the Striped Tiger,(above),5th-class;

item-7:Order of the Golden Grain,(left),8th-class;

item-8:Order of the Golden Grain,(right),6th-class.

hello all,

I am looking for any online website dedicated to imperial Japanese army , campaings, leaders, battles, etc. I found some info on wkipedia and other websites but mostly fragmentary.

any help would be very apreciatted!

thanks in advance!

One website that may be of possible interest is:

www.thegoldenkite.com

This is the draft of the book that I am currently writing on the life of Baron General Fukushima.

Ricardo