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    Mysterious “Dragon” Badge (a.k.a. “Dragon & Star” Badge)


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    Posted

    OK, problem solved. This is a badge for a medical foundation called the Doujin-kai (同人会). Dou means the same; jin means humanity. Kai, of course, means association. You can see the first two kanji on the reverse of the badge.

    This group was established in June, Meiji 35 (1902). Abolished in Showa 20 (1945) at the end of the war. Its express purpose was to develop medicine, health, and medical care in Asian countries, mostly China and Korea. For example, they trained Chinese exchange students in hospitals and schools in Japan, shipped out Japanese doctors to hospitals in China--most often as teachers--, and established medical facilities along the rail lines in Korea. The doctors were shipped as far south as Bangkok and Singapore, and by Taisho 1 (1912) 329 Japanese doctors had participated. However, at this point the range became too wide, so after 1912 almost all the assistance went to China.

    During the late 1930s and up to the end of the war, the group had its share of turbulence and topsi-turviness. Too much for me to write in this post.

    There are obviously more interesting facts to relate, but one thing I did not find out was why these badges were awarded. I suspect they were member badges. The one pictured above is the Red Star Badge (inscribed on the case), and I have also seen Green Star Badges. The heart signifies a unity or humanity and the dragon may be symbolizing China.

    (The information above is from the 40-Year History of the Doujin-kai, not from my faulty memory.)

    Cheers,

    Rich

    Posted

    Cool info Rich!

    Thanks!

    Green star badge (also white star and yellow star badges) that you mentioned I posted in the first page of this thread.

    Regards,

    Nick

    Posted

    Just looked at my last post. Why aren't the kanji showing up?

    Yep,

    kanji, money symbols (like pound or yen), russian letters, etc ...

    Some problem with coding I guess.

    Site is constantly upgrading...

    Guess in the future they will show up normally (at least I hope they will :))

    Cheers,

    Nick

    • 3 months later...
    • 1 year later...

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