| Imperial Japan Medals and Badges |
I have created this site to document the wide range of medals, awards, badges, and
fobs from Imperial Japan (roughly 1874 to 1945). There are a few websites here and
there with some of these medals, but none are exhaustive. So I would like to try and
make a site with all the medals and their variants.
Medals and awards issued by the Japanese government (and the puppet states of
Japan) have been documented in James Peterson's Orders and Medals of Japan
and Associated States. Some of the information I use on this site will be from that
book. I will quote directly from the book when that is the only place I have found that
specific piece of information. However, in order for this site to be comprehensive, I
will read the Japanese published sources carefully and try to glean any additional
information from them. Although Peterson's book is good, it is only an introduction.
I would like this site to be as informative as possible, and for that to be successful, I
will no doubt need help. As you will see as you glance through the pages, some of
the photos are inadequate and some pages are incomplete. Little by little I hope to
rectify this. If anyone has nice photos that I might be able to use, I would really
appreciate it.
I think that in time I will be able to have a photo of every class of award. Although they
are rare, they pop up from time to time. However, finding all of the badges from the
various military groups, military academies, regiments, units, etc. may be
impossible. First of all, there is no ready checklist of these. Oftentimes unit
commanders would have some made for his men and there is no record of this
remaining (as far as I know). Unit and regiment badges--along with event
badges--exist in great numbers. I will try and document them as they appear.
Here is a brief introduction to Japanese medals.
fobs from Imperial Japan (roughly 1874 to 1945). There are a few websites here and
there with some of these medals, but none are exhaustive. So I would like to try and
make a site with all the medals and their variants.
Medals and awards issued by the Japanese government (and the puppet states of
Japan) have been documented in James Peterson's Orders and Medals of Japan
and Associated States. Some of the information I use on this site will be from that
book. I will quote directly from the book when that is the only place I have found that
specific piece of information. However, in order for this site to be comprehensive, I
will read the Japanese published sources carefully and try to glean any additional
information from them. Although Peterson's book is good, it is only an introduction.
I would like this site to be as informative as possible, and for that to be successful, I
will no doubt need help. As you will see as you glance through the pages, some of
the photos are inadequate and some pages are incomplete. Little by little I hope to
rectify this. If anyone has nice photos that I might be able to use, I would really
appreciate it.
I think that in time I will be able to have a photo of every class of award. Although they
are rare, they pop up from time to time. However, finding all of the badges from the
various military groups, military academies, regiments, units, etc. may be
impossible. First of all, there is no ready checklist of these. Oftentimes unit
commanders would have some made for his men and there is no record of this
remaining (as far as I know). Unit and regiment badges--along with event
badges--exist in great numbers. I will try and document them as they appear.
Here is a brief introduction to Japanese medals.
| I will include on every commemorative medal page (and a few of the badge pages) a scale that shows the relative scarcity of each medal. See the example here: |
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I have been able to write about medals because of the information I have gleaned from a
number of sources: books, conversations, blogs, and online references.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any of my claims. I welcome all opinions and facts!
number of sources: books, conversations, blogs, and online references.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in any of my claims. I welcome all opinions and facts!
| I also have a site dedicated to Imperial Japan military sake cups and bottles. Please click here: |
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For example, the 1900 Boxer Rebellion medal doesn't seem to be rare, yet the prices
it commands are high. This may be related to the interest in the Boxer Rebellion
itself. I would give it 3 dots with regard to scarcity. However, I have seen it sold at
prices ranging from $300 to $650 at online auctions. In Japan it routinely sells at the
lower end of that price range.
Another example is the WWI Victory Medal, which seems to be available almost
anywhere. Yet it still commands prices of over $100. This is puzzling...
Therefore, I have confined my judgements to the apparent rarity of the medals.
Values I will leave to others.
In addition, scaling the orders seems a bit unwieldy since the different classes have
been made for many years. Campaign and commemorative medals were usually
issued for a short period of time (and were usually made at the same time), but the
orders have been awarded since the late 1800s up until 2003, with a brief hiatus
following WW2.
Of course, the higher the class of the order, the fewer number exist.
As for the Korean commemorative medals, I suspect that they may exist in higher
numbers in Korea. However, since I have no access to those markets nor the
Korean language, I really don't know.
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| Do you have Japanese or Manchukuo medals to sell? I am always buying, so send me an EMAIL HERE. |
| Welcome to my site! Last updated: March 18, 2010 |
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Army Lieutenant General Hoshino [Kaneyoshi?], 4th Division Commander.
and a 3rd Class Golden Kite. He is also wearing the Staff Graduate badge.and a
3rd Class Golden Kite. He is also wearing the Staff Graduate badge.
and a 3rd Class Golden Kite. He is also wearing the Staff Graduate badge.and a
3rd Class Golden Kite. He is also wearing the Staff Graduate badge.
