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    Merit Medal - Blue Ribbon


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    Posted

    All right, this site is too quiet! Time to post something - recent acquisition, merit medal with blue ribbon, pretty nice overall condition:

    • 6 months later...
    Posted (edited)

    If my eyes aren't deceiving me, it looks like the date is Showa 42 [1967], not 1977.

    Edited by fukuoka
    Posted

    Did you do any research on the recipient?

    Thanks for sharing.

    Richard

    Alas, I have not. I do not have any of the literature that has information about these, sure wish I did!

    If my eyes aren't deceiving me, it looks like the date is Showa 42 [1967], not 1977.

    You are correct!! It is indeed Showa 42, 1967.

    Posted

    Well, it's kind of a glary picture. I didn't actually realize that until Rich pointed it out, then I went back and looked at the actual medal! I can't see that pic. all that well either, so don't feel bad!

    Posted

    Dieter, here is a belated New Year's gift. Name; Saito Tadashi. Received the Blue Ribbon Medal of Honor for long service in the automotive industry, performing instruction and necessary duties that encouraged the development of that industry. According to my Showa 44 register (which has appendices for Showa 42 & 43), he received this medal on October 8, 1967 along with 10 others for the same reason. No other information given, but at least you have a tidbit.

    Posted

    Dieter, here is a belated New Year's gift. Name; Saito Tadashi. Received the Blue Ribbon Medal of Honor for long service in the automotive industry, performing instruction and necessary duties that encouraged the development of that industry. According to my Showa 44 register (which has appendices for Showa 42 & 43), he received this medal on October 8, 1967 along with 10 others for the same reason. No other information given, but at least you have a tidbit.

    AWESOME!!! Thanks so much for that, that is really great!!! I've gotta try and find some of the literature that highlights this info!! I really appreciate this.

    Posted

    No problem, Dieter. Glad I could help. It is nice to have even a little background on the people.

    Getting the roll / register books is hard. First of all, they are usually heavy volumes, so shipping overseas is too expensive. Another problem is that there is not a set for all years, just different groups publishing different years. It is really hit and miss finding these volumes. Oftentimes, book dealers assume that these are extraordinarily valuable since there were small print runs and the original price was outrageous. So they put the price so high that it isn't worth buying them. Not really sure, but I think most original buyers of these volumes were the people who got the awards. (BTW, I also am collecting volumes of the order rolls, too. Same problems with those.)

    That being said, they can be treasure troves of information for medal collectors. My Showa 44 volume has an entire page devoted to EACH recipient, if you can believe that. (Dark Blue Medals excepted). Wow, can't beat that. Other volumes usually have a short entry for each person.

    If anyone has a Medal of Honor that needs an ID, I may be able to help. I have all the pre-1941 Medal of Honor rolls and about 20 post-war volumes. Not complete by any means, but I may be able to help. Just be patient with me after your requests. I don't always have a lot of extra time.

    Posted

    If anyone has a Medal of Honor that needs an ID, I may be able to help. I have all the pre-1941 Medal of Honor rolls and about 20 post-war volumes. Not complete by any means, but I may be able to help. Just be patient with me after your requests. I don't always have a lot of extra time.

    Thanks for this generous offer Rich!

    Amazing info on Dieter medal!

    I have some pre-1941 honor medals (one of them even with golden bar ;))

    Cheers,

    Nick

    Posted

    No problem, Dieter. Glad I could help. It is nice to have even a little background on the people.

    Getting the roll / register books is hard. First of all, they are usually heavy volumes, so shipping overseas is too expensive. Another problem is that there is not a set for all years, just different groups publishing different years. It is really hit and miss finding these volumes. Oftentimes, book dealers assume that these are extraordinarily valuable since there were small print runs and the original price was outrageous. So they put the price so high that it isn't worth buying them. Not really sure, but I think most original buyers of these volumes were the people who got the awards. (BTW, I also am collecting volumes of the order rolls, too. Same problems with those.)

    That being said, they can be treasure troves of information for medal collectors. My Showa 44 volume has an entire page devoted to EACH recipient, if you can believe that. (Dark Blue Medals excepted). Wow, can't beat that. Other volumes usually have a short entry for each person.

    If anyone has a Medal of Honor that needs an ID, I may be able to help. I have all the pre-1941 Medal of Honor rolls and about 20 post-war volumes. Not complete by any means, but I may be able to help. Just be patient with me after your requests. I don't always have a lot of extra time.

    Rich,

    Generous indeed. The beers are on me next time I am in Fukuoka :cheers:

    Posted

    No problem, Dieter. Glad I could help. It is nice to have even a little background on the people.

    Absolutely!! And thank you again, this kind of info just makes things all the more complete.

    That being said, they can be treasure troves of information for medal collectors. My Showa 44 volume has an entire page devoted to EACH recipient, if you can believe that. (Dark Blue Medals excepted). Wow, can't beat that. Other volumes usually have a short entry for each person.

    On that - how are the dark blue medal rolls presented? My guess is too numerous to do a page on each recipient like the other ones. Are they more a summary by date? For a given date, the following people were awarded....., or something like that?

    Something else that surprises me is why more presentation documents don't show up, at least for thre dark blue ribbon - they aren't exactly rare, but the documents seem fairly scarce.

    Posted

    I may regret making that offer on a public forum... I get about 10 requests a week (from my site) to ID badges and medals. About half never say thanks and a number of people have actually gotten impatient or angry with me when I don't answer within 3 days or so. (No, not referring to any regular members here!) So an open invitation is probably not a good idea. Anyway, post your clear pics on this site and I'll answer when I can. A promise of a beer does wonders, though. (Thanks Paul.)

    Since the Dark Blue Ribbon is just for a monetary donation, the rolls just list the names and amounts. Nothing you don't know from the medals, except for the names, but that doesn't do much good unless a certain date is limited to one or a few names.

    Living in Japan for the last 19 years (!) has not made me an expert by any means, but the Medal of Honor award document may be too personal for the families to release for public sale. I suspect that they may sell off the medals but throw away the documents to preserve privacy. The orders are a bit more public as far as awards go, so maybe there is not the same feeling. Just assuming here, though. I've never really thought about it much.

    Posted

    Rich, I can certainly understand how that must feel. I don't think a lot of people can truly appreciate the time and effort that you (and many others here!) have put into doing the research that you do, not to mention the exceptional costs ivnvolved with simply collecting the material to begin with! None of this has come easy. To not even say a simply "thank you" though, that's sort of beyond measure. Just know though that your efforts do not go wholy unappreciated! :)

    Posted

    Here comes one of my blue ribbons medals. I believe it belongs to 1933. The name of recipient is Tamba Koneo (or Niva Tikao). This one has beautiful patina that really bringing out every little detail.

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