A nice group of Japanese certificates including 5th Class Golden Kite signed by Meiji Emperor

[Paul L Murphy]

Here is some nice Japanese eye candy of the paper kind. I have a soft spot for nice groups of documents and while this is unfortunately a broken group (as is so typical of Japanese groups) it is still nice as you will see ...... .

His first certificate is an Order of the Rising Sun 8th Class awarded to him in 1896 when he was a Sergeant 1st Class.

Edited May 4, 2009 by Paul L Murphy

[Paul L Murphy]

His next certificate is awarded to him in 1902 as a Warrant Officer and it is the Order of the Sacred Treasure 7th Class. This is obviously a long service decoration.

[Paul L Murphy]

So far, so what I hear you say. The only unusual thing is the fact that he has the rank of Warrant Officer which does not appear that often.

Well, the next certificate I have is this baby. It is the Order of the Golden Kite 5th Class awarded to him in 1906 for the Russo Japanese War as a 2nd Lieutenant and the two characters in calligraphy in the middle is the hand signature of the Meiji Emperor himself.

During the Meiji era the Golden Kite certificates down to and including 5th class were all normally hand signed by the Emperor since it was a very prestigious award. For other orders he only signed the 1st to 3rd classes.

[Paul L Murphy]

And to round it off, the other certificate I have belonging to him is a 4th Class Sacred Treasure awarded to him in 1915 as a Captain. Again, this would have been a long service award.

A small and incomplete group but still a very nice one since it shows he served over 20 years, was promoted from the ranks, and won the Golden kite 5th Class.

Enjoy :cheers:

[Ed_Haynes]

While I cannot read I word, I know how nice and how rare and how special these are. Wow!!

What is missing? Any chance to reunify? (I know the answer, why do I ask, but we must hope, right?)

[Paul L Murphy]

While I cannot read I word, I know how nice and how rare and how special these are. Wow!!

What is missing? Any chance to reunify? (I know the answer, why do I ask, but we must hope, right?)

Almost no chance of reunifying these I'm afraid. What is missing is at least his Russo Japanese War Medal certificate (not sure if he had any other medals, in which case these certs are also missing) as well as a 6th Class and 5th Class certificate for either the Rising Sun or Sacred Treasure since he was 6th rank of honour when he got the Golden Kite and then 5th rank of honour before he got the 4th class Sacred Treasure.

[Ed_Haynes]

Still, these are lovely and historic certificates and the autograph is .

Always found him a fascinating and almost sad figure. He couldn't have understood . . . .

[Guest Rick Research]

:Cat-Scratch:

I am amazed---

How common would it have BEEN to rise from the ranks a century ago? Was he (can you tell from the family name?) a samurai in reduced circumstances or...

defied the class structure? This seems like an incredible life story.

No mention of what units he was in?

Wow.

[Paul L Murphy]

I am amazed---

How common would it have BEEN to rise from the ranks a century ago? Was he (can you tell from the family name?) a samurai in reduced circumstances or...

defied the class structure? This seems like an incredible life story.

No mention of what units he was in?

Wow.

Hirai is not an uncommon name so it is not possible to say whether his family were Samurai or not. Unfortunately medal certificates do not give unit designations, you need to get some other paperwork such as leave certificates or graduation certificates for this. Sadly there were none with these. I suspect he got a battlefield promotion during the Russo Japanese War. These were not common but I have seen other examples. It was normally long serving senior sergeants or warrant officers that ended up getting them; a reward for service and bravery and it filled a need due to the high casualties among junior officers (a foretaste of what future trench warfare would have in store 10 years later).

Edited May 4, 2009 by Paul L Murphy

[Guest Rick Research]

Regarding routine long service awards-- can you deduce his approximate age from these? He had to have been well older than any of his "peers" in-grade, and coming from "inferior" social background, must have been tough.

I only know German social background for this period, but officers were expected to "fit in" and have sufficient income to provide their own horse and reciprocate "rounds" at the officers' mess, and so on. It would have been an unbearable strain on somebody who ONLY had his salary to live on, as this man must have done.

Never saw ANYTHING on social/class origins of Japanese Imperial forces officers before and wonder if anything on this even exists in Japanese.

Would NEVER have expected this sort of career from anything I've ever read before. :cheers:

[Paul L Murphy]

Regarding routine long service awards-- can you deduce his approximate age from these? He had to have been well older than any of his "peers" in-grade, and coming from "inferior" social background, must have been tough.

I only know German social background for this period, but officers were expected to "fit in" and have sufficient income to provide their own horse and reciprocate "rounds" at the officers' mess, and so on. It would have been an unbearable strain on somebody who ONLY had his salary to live on, as this man must have done.

Never saw ANYTHING on social/class origins of Japanese Imperial forces officers before and wonder if anything on this even exists in Japanese.

Would NEVER have expected this sort of career from anything I've ever read before.

I have a guide in one of my Japanese reference books to the time period they needed to serve for the various ranks and classes of the Sacred Treasure so I need to dig this out.

I am not sure to what extent extra income would have been needed to fund an officer's lifestyle in Japan. I suspect it was a lot less than the British or German armies at the time, especially during wartime. The analogy I would make is that the Russo Japanese War had the same impact on promotion through the ranks as WWI had on such promotions in the British army. A rarity became almost commonplace due to the high casualties and the need to spread experience.

[Dieter3]

Those documents are very nice!! Paul, as he was awarded the Rising Sun 8th in 1896, could he have also received a medal for the 1st Sino-Japanese war?

[Paul L Murphy]

Those documents are very nice!! Paul, as he was awarded the Rising Sun 8th in 1896, could he have also received a medal for the 1st Sino-Japanese war?

It is a distinct possibility. Unfortunately I have no proof either way.