JapanX

Of course they are By the box This wonder-box ...

That is why I was (and am ) so skeptical about your box. Cheers, Nick

Central tablets

Reverses

First of all - you are Kamikadze! And in the second - here comes legit box with same order as yours (only gold class) and with same rosette and attachment. Check this out.

Have a nice vacation Greg! P.S. What we`ve got here is another cold-hearted policeman Nice story! Thanks Mervyn. Cheers, Nick

Very rare thing! And in great condition. Actually this is complete 2nd class/incomplete 1st class :cheers:

Display case full of military sake cups :lol:

Erratum I should be read: ...Above all there are 2nd class breast stars in rectangular boxes – they are definitely from 1941+ period.

Very nice specimen! Judging by the central mirror delineation it could be Taisho period award (no early than 1910 no older than 1930). The box is from Meiji/Taisho for sure. Is there are any mint marks on the breast star and the sign? Cheers, Nick

Hi Pieter! I`ve been thinking about this remark. An yes, you are absolutely right. Its not easy to be nominated for 3rd calss during Meiji/Taisho epoch. And statute of the order is not very precise. "For outstanding military deeds..." I think the main factors (in order of there importance) for this or that class nomination were Your rank and current position Current accomplishment for nomination Your previous accomplishments Your previous awards Your age But maybe during Pacific War conditions for nomination become more democtatic because of the posthumous factor? I know that in 1942 one japanese fighter-ace were posthumously awarded by 2nd class!!! It is unbelievebly high decoration for "ordinary" fighter pilot - even if he is ace of aces!!! Maybe this is the answer for why so many kites in higher classes??? And of course the scale factor. The scale of war. Regards, Nick

Blood donation for 100+ times was and is "one of this things" for sure. I wonder how many blood donations you shoud make to get the gold order? And does it humanly possible at all? :lol:

Very picturesque cover of the book . .. The book itself is very pro-Japanese and this why it`s very interesting and entertaining reading .

This is your answer. ...And as far as I know this piece is still in the possession of this great Museum along with Napoleon Légion d'Honneur collar and many others rare and beautiful phaleristic treasures. This photo was made through showcase glass. Just take a good look and you will see that. Cheers, Nick

Thank you very much Richard! :beer: So now we have 336 028 actually manufactured kites for Pacific War. Great! Again many thanks for this information and for your excellent site! Regards, Nick

An this is the book from which I borrow empress photo (the book itself is highly recommended for reading). Title

And here Meiji wife Ichijo Haruko (Empress Shoken) with such star.

A little refreshment ... Here we got real rarity + real beauty! Breast Star of the Sacred Crown order. Early Meiji. From the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur collection. Enjoy!

Cheers mate Or donate your blood more than 100 times and you`ll get your silver cross ;)

This is great news Pieter! It`s once again confirms stability of distribution in lower classes!!! I shall remind that in 3rd class we have 0,42% for Meiji and 0,38% for Taisho. The main problem is 831 822 I think that majority (or actually all) of these kites were posthumous awards. But how many of them exists in real world? I don`t have an answer. But I think that 4000 is not that overoptimistic number. Just take a look at the 1st and 2nd class % for Showa kites. If you will take into account scale factor, then you will have practically Meiji % for 1st and 2nd class. Regards, Nick

Yes, but how many? For that we need documents. Or just one will do it. From 1945. Or from 1944 or 1943. 1942? 1941? You are absolutely right about documents. I`ve never seen any document on golden kite that was dated later than spring 1940. Why? I don’t have an answer. Some change occured. What change? I don`t know.

Hi Pieter! Thanks for your critical response. This is what I think. So 1 067 492 I agree Pieter. This number … Something wrong with it… You just feel it … One million+ and we are talking about the most prestigious japanese award! Let’s reduce it! 831 822 So this is our Pacific Kites pack according to Peterson (who back in 1946 (according to my information) was with SCAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers) and might have access to documents that we don’t have). We are now down single-order but number is still huge! That’s why at the end of “my another attempt” I was taking about “phantom kites” “Phantom”, “just wrote out”, “paper” kites. These kites were never manufactured. These kites were never presented. How many of them? All of them? No way! If it really was the case then we have only 116 070 kites in all classes for Showa epoch. Is it really possible? I think it`s not! There are too many Showa kites. Take for example Showa 7th class! Its alone could easily “outweigh” all Meiji + Taisho kites in all classes. And then there is 5th class… One look at eBay can convince anyone. Above all there are 2nd class stars in hexagon boxes – they are definitely from 1941+ period. And look at the conditions of 6th and 7th classes – most of them are brand-new! Posthumous awards... That’s why I am sure that there were some issued-for-real kites after 1940. But how many?

Of course this box may be (or may not be) “actual-war-circa-1942-1945-not-handmade-but-serial-made-piece”. I can live with that too. :)

Completely agree my friend. So from what period is it then? Pre 1956? Post 1945? Somewhere between 1941-1945? My cats and I ... We`re well and truly lost here . I don`t think that between 1945 and 1956 there were any RC orders awarded. So I suspect that you will choose "actual war-era award" variant. Good choice! But I think your box is more (at least not less) "labor-consuming" and "material-consuming" piece compared with usual pre-war pieces. Don`t you think it`s kinda strange for "late war conditions". We are talking about government prestigious awards here and not about family living standarts. ;)

I think it's more than enough Golden Kites statistics for today. Cheers mates! :cheers: :cheers: