A Meiji Golden Kite 7th Class

TracA · May 27

Greetings,

I have several Showa Golden Kites in my collection and after a bit of hunting around I was able to procure a nice pre-Showa era Kite, cased. My classification is based upon JapanX’s excellent thread right here on GMIC at https://gmic.co.uk/topic/51228-classification-of-golden-kites-in-6th-and-7th-class/.

This Kite is a 7th class. The inscription on the lacquered case is in gold and it is of the earlier six kanji variety as opposed to the later seven kanji variety. Is it possible to date these varieties? Traditionally I simply see the six kanji version referred to as “earlier” than the seven kanji version. However, in his excellent article “Story of the Golden Kite” on the War Relics Forum, Nick Komiya postulated a possible date for the switch over from six to seven kanji inscriptions: sometime around the Manchurian Incident in 1932. See post #34 here: https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/story-golden-kite-671453-4/.

The Kite below has the necessary and sufficient markings of a pre-Showa Kite: when starting from below and moving up (1) the distance between the fourth aperture of a harness and the first tipping over of a harness is relatively short and (2) there are two apertures at the second tipping over of a harness, instead of just one aperture found on the Showa Kites. The fact that the third wing tip is the longest also rules out a Showa Era Kite.

Per JapanX’s thread referenced above there are seven basic types with all but Types 4 and 7 having sub variations, and per the wonderfully illustrative pictures that he has posted it is obvious that only types 1 through 4 have the third wing tip as the longest. So, I knew my Kite was classified as Meiji but now the hunt was on to determine which Type and/or sub variation.

I spent quite a bit of time going over pictures of Types 1 through 4 and I narrowed it down to Type 3.3 and Type 4. I believe that my Kite is a Type 4 based upon the angle of the head/beak and the eye. However, I am certainly open to correction and discussion.

This piece makes a wonderful addition to my collection.

Thanks for looking.

Tracy

Obverse: