Photos of Japanese Medals being worn

[Ulsterman]

You know, these are really quite good. Have you ever thought of doing a Schiffer book a la Charles Wolley? I think there's a lot of people out there who'd welcome period photos with knowledgeable and accurate commentary.

[Paul L Murphy]

You know, these are really quite good. Have you ever thought of doing a Schiffer book a la Charles Wolley? I think there's a lot of people out there who'd welcome period photos with knowledgeable and accurate commentary.

I have it in mind as a longer term project. Before I do that I want to write the definitive book in English on Japanese orders and medals to replace Peterson.

Paul

[Ulsterman]

Ah- a most worthy endeavor. I happily own Peterson and while he did noble and great work, his stuff is so interesting it makes one ask more questions. Like, did all NCOs get an Order of the Sacred Treasure 8th after 10 years or was it for special merit on a particular occasion..or both? etc. etc..

[Richard LaTondre]

I have it in mind as a longer term project. Before I do that I want to write the definitive book in English on Japanese orders and medals to replace Peterson.

Paul

Paul:

We can never forget this gentleman, General, Baron Fukushima one of the true last Samurais that made the longest reconnaisance trip in history from Berlin to Vladivostok, prior to declaring war on Russia.

See www.thegoldenkite.com

Best Regards,

Dick

[kunsho]

This is Colonel Nagake, Chief of Staff of the 5th Division.

Picture taken in Peking 1901.

[kunsho]

...and this is Lieutenant Colonel Mukonishi.

Picture taken in Ludwigsburg (Germany) 1910, while he served at the w?rtt. IR 121.

[Richard LaTondre]

This is Colonel Nagake, Chief of Staff of the 5th Division.

Picture taken in Peking 1901.

It looks as if he is also wearing the Boxer Rebellion medal and was under the command of General Baron Fukushima.

Dick

[kunsho]

Closeup of Colonel Nagake's bar..and you can see it is the 1895 medal...

Matthias

[kunsho]

Admiral Nanaka

Picture taken Feb. 11, 1929

[Richard LaTondre]

It looks as if he is also wearing the Boxer Rebellion medal and was under the command of General Baron Fukushima.

Dick

That makes it much more clear. He is not wearing the Boxer Medal it is the 1894-95 War Medal.

Thanks

Dick

[VJK]

Hi!

I just saw the excellent portrait of Admiral Nanaka. Unfortunately, there was no Admiral of that name. Could you give any more information to help track down his real identity?

Best regards,

VJK

[Hugh]

Hi!

I just saw the excellent portrait of Admiral Nanaka. Unfortunately, there was no Admiral of that name. Could you give any more information to help track down his real identity?

Best regards,

VJK

Tanaka is quite a common Japanes name. Does that fit?

Hugh

[VJK]

Hi!

The officer in the picture is wearing the uniform of a Vice-Admiral. There were only 5 VAd (or above) Tanaka and only two were VAd in 1929 - Kotaro and Morihide, but both were in the second reserve stage at that date, which would make them unlikely candidates IMHO. I suspect we are looking for a different surname.

Regards,

VJK

Edited October 12, 2008 by VJK

[fjcp]

Hi!

The officer in the picture is wearing the uniform of a Vice-Admiral. There were only 5 VAd (or above) Tanaka and only two were VAd in 1929 - Kotaro and Morihide, but both were in the second reserve stage at that date, which would make them unlikely candidates IMHO. I suspect we are looking for a different surname.

Regards,

VJK

May I ask what source you are using to try and ID this fellow????

It sounds like I should probably get me one of those!!!!

Thanks

JC

[Ed_Haynes]

I'm sure there were official Japanese naval lists on a periodic basis. They would, of course, have been in Japanese. And I'd expect they are incredibly rare these days.

[VJK]

Hi JC,

My source is this excellent site: http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/index.htm

Best wishes,

VJK

[Richard LaTondre]

May I ask what source you are using to try and ID this fellow????

It sounds like I should probably get me one of those!!!!

Thanks

JC

You might try http://www.jacar.go.ip/english/index.html

[Richard LaTondre]

You might try http://www.jacar.go.ip/english/index.html

sorry. It's http://www.jacar.go.jp/english/index.html

[kunsho]

Hi!

I just saw the excellent portrait of Admiral Nanaka. Unfortunately, there was no Admiral of that name. Could you give any more information to help track down his real identity?

Best regards,

VJK

Also hi!

For more clarification here is the backside of the picture. "Admiral Nanaka - Picture taken February 11, 1929". Maybe the translation is not correct and for that reason I have attached the original source.

Best regards

Matthias

[VJK]

Hi Matthias!

I have finally been able to clear up the mystery - he is Vice-Admiral (Constructor) Sueo Nonaka: http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/pc.htm#49v002

Colonel Nagake, Chief of Staff of the 5th Division is the later Maj. General Kame Nagata, CoS 5th Division from 8 Apr 1901 - 5 May 1902. At the time, the Division was commanded by General Viscount Motomi Yamaguchi.

Best regards,

VJK

Edited January 14, 2009 by VJK

[kunsho]

Thanks a lot for the clarification !!

Best regards,

Matthias

[Brian Wolfe]

This one is a Senior Sergeant in the 1st Regiment wearing a Rising Sun 8th Class, Manchurian Incident War Medal, Manchurian National Foundation Merit Medal and Red Cross Member's Medal.

While going through some of the older posts I noticed that the Senior Sergeant in this photo is holding the pattern c. 1886 Cavalry Trooper's Sword mostly associated with the Russo-Japanese War (1904 - 05), see post #21 for the photo. Since he is wearing the Manchurian Incident War Medal, it places him well after the Russo-Japanese War and it would seem to support one theory I've read that these cavalry swords continued in use well into WW II. I have two distinct patterns of this sword in my collection, one is basically a shorter version of the more common sword. This was NOT a cut down from a damaged sword but a shorter pattern.

Has anyone else encountered a short version of the c. 1886 Cavalry Trooper's Sword?

Thanks for posting this photo Paul.

Regards

Brian

Edited January 14, 2009 by Brian Wolfe

[Hugh]

I can't speak for the Japanese but I know that many of my comrades in the Navy took pride in wearing their father's or grandfathers swords. It's that military dynasty thing.

H

[Brian Wolfe]

I can't speak for the Japanese but I know that many of my comrades in the Navy took pride in wearing their father's or grandfathers swords. It's that military dynasty thing.

H

From what I have read the non-regulation bades that were worn were ancestral (family) blades. The sword in question had a machine-made blade as did almost all of the "regulation" swords of WWII. I'm not sure but I don't believe the military would have allowed this pattern to be worn unless it was an issued item. Ancestral blades would have been made before 1877. That's not to say there were no hand-made blades carried during WW II that were made later than 1877, but these were always with the regulation hilts, either army or navy. I have one such blade that was hand-made in the 1930's but again this was carried with the regulation hilt.

Regards

Brian