Japan Chart of Medals and Badges of Great Manchukuo Empire from 1944

[JapanX]

Honorary Member Medal (a.k.a. Honorary Membership Medal, a.k.a. Honorary Order of Red Cross)

[JapanX]

Now that`s interesting!

As we see the only difference between Merit Medal and Honorary Member Medal is the ribbon rosette

[JapanX]

Here they are

[JapanX]

I tell you one thing chap`s - I`ve never seen this yellow rosette ...

Do you?

[JapanX]

Another strangest thing is that chart completely ignores this super rare order (which I think could be the early version of the Honorary Merit Medal)

[JapanX]

What really tangles the situation is the information from page 161 of Peterson book.

Thats what he wrote about Honorary Membership Medal

[JapanX]

And indeed on the next page of the book (page 162) we see the reverse inscription of this Honorary Medal

[JapanX]

But the Order from the post # 80 has usual ("usual" for all Merit Medals reverse inscription)

[JapanX]

This is how typical Merit Medal looks "in real life"

[JapanX]

[JapanX]

So it looks like we have undescribed (in Chart) variation of Merit Medal (post #80)

By the way, Petersone also didn`t mentioned this variation of Merit Medal in his book.

The only medal obverse that is shown in his book

[JapanX]

Obvisously that the ribbon has this rosette

[fukuoka]

And indeed on the next page of the book (page 162) we see the reverse inscription of this Honorary Medal

This looks to read 'Meritorious Supporting Member.' The single line on the other medal reads 'Merit Medal.'

Edited June 1, 2013 by fukuoka

[JapanX]

... and two reverses

"Merit" not "Honorary"

Ordinary, standart reverse

[JapanX]

This looks to read 'Meritorious Supporting Member.' The single line on the other medal reads 'Merit Medal.'

Indeed Rich!

[JapanX]

So we have at least three different Orders.

First is the "standart one" that can be seen in posts #84-85

Second is the order from the post # 80 and #83

Third is this mysterious order with reverse in two lines that can be seen in fig. 286 in Peterson.

[JapanX]

Special Member Medal

[JapanX]

Full Member Medal

Edited June 1, 2013 by JapanX

[JapanX]

The Chart itself have a very interesting story.

It appears that it was taken back to Russia shortly after the war by this friendly looking chekist.

comrade Ryzhov

For more info about this nice fellow see http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/5058-mongolian-state-security/page-8

Edited June 1, 2013 by JapanX

[JapanX]

The original Chart has dimensions 1100mm x 840mm

[DavidS]

A belated "thank you" to Nick for his "thesis". It's good to see the discussion he's promoting.

As some of you are aware, Manchukuo medals/badges are a bit of an obsession here; this chart is one of highlights of my collection.

The chart itself measures 1100mm x 840mm and is painted linen.

[Dieter3]

Fascinating! I had no idea there were even Merit Medals from Manchukuo. Awesome!

But no basic meber medal for the Red Cross? And they really one-uped the Japan Red Cross for the Honorary Membership medal! Much nicer!

First-rate thread, no doubt!

[JapanX]

But no basic meber medal for the Red Cross?

Indeed!

I think they simply decided to combine two medals in one picture (which is quite natural since we know that it is actually one and the same medal - "basic membership medal" and "basic membership medal with added rosette for longevity")

And they really one-uped the Japan Red Cross for the Honorary Membership medal! Much nicer!

+1

[drclaw]

Well, I was so inspired by this thread to watch "The Last Emperor" again on BluRay.

Of course I had to hit the pause button in the Xinjing palace ball room scenes to gawk at the medals. Bertolucci was an absolute stickler for historical accuracy in getting the right medals unlike the 99% of modern Chinese films with their fantasy bling.

Puyi was wearing the Collar and star of the Orchid Blossoms, the stars of the Auspicious Clouds, Illustrious Dragon, Pillars of the State and Chrysanthemum. Given only two Orchid Blossom collars are known to have been awarded (Puyi and Hirohito), those at least would have been reproductions.

Various other Japanese / Manchukuo officials were wearing Orchid Blossoms and Auspicious Clouds.

One question I have is the numbers of awards. James Peterson's book provides numbers for Manchukuo orders but only for a six or seven year period 1934-1940.

Does this suggest NO awards of Manchukuo orders were made after 1940? Or is this because the extant records only go up to 1940 and that more awards may have been made after that year?

[JapanX]

Given only two Orchid Blossom collars are known to have been awarded (Puyi and Hirohito), those at least would have been reproductions.

Peterson was wrong about this number.

There were (at least!) four chains

One question I have is the numbers of awards. James Peterson's book provides numbers for Manchukuo orders but only for a six or seven year period 1934-1940.

Does this suggest NO awards of Manchukuo orders were made after 1940? Or is this because the extant records only go up to 1940 and that more awards may have been made after that year?

This is because the extant records only go up to 1940 and many awards were made after that year