Japan Some Medal Bars

[Ralph A]

These have been hiding in the back of a drawer lo! these many many years. I was looking for something entirely different when I hauled them into the light of day...

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ralph A

[Ralph A]

The second one. Can someone identify the classes of some of these?

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ralph A

[Ralph A]

PS I threw in the ribbon bar and the Red Cross medal award doc (which my wife stood on its head when she took the pics for me) as "extras." I have a third bar somewhere, will post it up soon: it has a Golden Kite medal on it!

What is the value of such items?

[Ulsterman]

Depends. Those are very nice bars and while I don't know much about construction techniques, look ok to me. I'd throw @$250-$350 each of them minimum if you're selling. They both look like NCOs bars to me given the lower classes of the orders.

[JapanX]

Both bars are very questionable.

To put it very mildly.

First of all different wear of the ribbons.

[JapanX]

Second - 1920 Census medal in the second medal bar looks really out of place (what the hell he was doing all these years before incidents?!)

[JapanX]

Third - 7-place medal bar for NCO?!

Very unlikely if not impossible.

This is how a typical medal bars for these chaps should look like

[JapanX]

Another family of 2 placers

Edited December 21, 2014 by JapanX

[JapanX]

Ok.

5 placers

But th medals should be different!

No 1928 enthronement or 1920 census in sight!

[JapanX]

Actually even 6 place medal bars are possible, but again no 1920 or 1928 medals in sight + Manchu medals (i.e. foreign) are essential for forming such long NCO medal bars.

[JapanX]

More and more examples

[JapanX]

Lower classes of orders (7th) together with medals from 20s make these two medal bars very unrealistic.

This is how realistic 7th placer should look like

[JapanX]

Another example

[JapanX]

5 place bar with 1928 Showa enthronment in it

[Paul R]

This is a very interesting thread. All of the photographs seem to be very early on, before WW2 (pre-1941). Did the Japanese stop awarding medals to privates and NCOs once the war against the Allies began?

Also, what would an Enlisted person have to do in order to receive one of the Kite or other orders? Are those for valor or military merit?

[Ulsterman]

this is a very interesting thread. i noted the odd, if somewhat crude construction of the bar , but honestly, assumed it was merely the Japanese way, as Japanese goods tended to be somewhat cruder in this era.

As for the NCOs' bar-well, educate me. Why wasnt this a Senior Sergeant or Deck officer?

[JapanX]

If he was a private or NCO then he should`t have so many medals in his bar (particulary 1920 census and 1928 enthronment).

If he was an officer then he shoud have higher classes of orders (6th, 5th or even 4th) in his medal bar.

That is the whole story.

[JapanX]

See what I am talking about?

Etc, etc, etc ...

[Ralph A]

Yes, interesting. Many thanks!

"If he was a private or NCO then he should`t have so many medals in his bar..."

So if I read into this correctly, the Japanese mind set was different from his German counterparts', where you sometimes see lo-o-ong medalbars to low-to-non ranking, fairly undistinguished vets, loaded up with an EK2 and his state's analogy, several veteran's dongles, a couple of theatre participation medals and an HK. No Nipponese subject of the Emperor would stoop so low as to load up his chest with low-grade cabbage just to impress the guys down at the sake bar?

Then I'll take it that these contraptions were cobbled together like cheap Christmas trees in Santa's workshop. They came from Japan, not the States, and probably along with some fire department badges, a selection of cased medals and some enameled veterans association pins. They are not my forte, and not very appealing... which explains why they got shoved into a forgotten drawer.

I don't want them. Should I take them apart and sell the medals individually? That also is not my forte. I don't do that sort of thing. Perhaps sell them as is, along with a caveat and a link to this thread? Advice?

BTW here is the third bar, which came with the other two, (and to me) looks a lot like the one in one of the posts, above.

[Paul R]

Holy crap!! A Russo-Japanese War and WW1 Vet in that last bar(where is the Victory Medal)? Please dont take it apart...

[Ralph A]

Never have, never would .

"I yam what I yam, etc." as Popeye sez.

[JapanX]

No Nipponese subject of the Emperor would stoop so low as to load up his chest with low-grade cabbage just to impress the guys down at the sake bar?

So ist es auch

[JapanX]

BTW here is the third bar.

This one looks really nice

[Ralph A]

Even a blind hog can root up an acorn now and then.

[Jareth]

I too like the last bar. PM me if your considering selling it