Japanese Fire Brigade Award

[FWolf]

Gents,

A friend of mine offers me a Japanese decoration. I assume, that this is kind of fire fighter award?

I only can read the second and the third line:

(2^nd line) "12^th October Showa 31 (1955)"

(3^rd line) "2^nd General Meeting of national fire brigade"

Can anybody help me with the first line and the two kanji?

As well, further information about this award would be great!

Thanks in advance and regards,

FWolf

[Paul L Murphy]

The characters on the first line are "kinen" for "commemoration". The "nen" character is quite stylised so it can be difficult to make out at first.

[Paul L Murphy]

Just to add, it is not correct to describe this as a decoration. It is a commemorative badge. You will find many different variations of these badges, in my book In the Name of a Living God, we show over 150 firefighter badges but we only scratched the tip of the iceberg. Most of them are made for the various volunteer firefighter units rather than the full time regulars. One like this is worth between $10-20 so do not overpay for them, even though they are quite attractive.

[FWolf]

Thanks Paul!

Now, after you mentioned "kinen", I can see the affinity.

I'll definitetly will look for your book!

FWolf

[Paul L Murphy]

Send me a PM with your email details and I will email you the details of how to order a copy from me as well as some more background information about what it contains.

Regards,

Paul

[Dieter3]

Having recently acquired a copy of Paul's book myself, I can say it is worth every unit of currency in which you might pay! It is a really nice book, a must for any collector of these types of items.

[FWolf]

Send me a PM with your email details and I will email you the details of how to order a copy from me as well as some more background information about what it contains.

Regards,

Paul

Paul,

Sorry, I can't use (yet) the PM option on my account.

But I'll order your book from Amazon.

Anyway, thanks a lot!

Falk

[Paul L Murphy]

Falk,

If you order it from Amazon they keep all the profit ! Send me an email to paulmurphy30@hotmail.com and I can sell you one directly (which is better for me).

Regards,

Paul