Nambu World: Russo-Japanese War Medal

This medal was awarded for service in the war against Russia in 1904-05. Japan won the conflict, which shocked the Western powers. It was the first time in the colonial era that a European power was beaten by a non-white country. After a very bitter land battle with massive casualties due to frontal assaults on entrenched and fortified positions equipped with machine guns, the war ended suddenly after Japan’s Admiral Togo destroyed Russia’s Baltic Fleet after it had sailed halfway around the world to fight. The glory of this victory was frequently alluded to by the military and the Emperor as Japan began to take on further aggressive territorial expansion. Japan got the southern part of the Far Eastern Russian island of Sakhalin (north of Japan) and some concessions in Liaotung, China.

I was surprised by how rough the machining was on this medal. The bar has the four characters ju-gun-ki-sho. Read right to left, they mean “war medal”. The design shows two crossed flags with a chrysanthemum above and paulownia leaves below. The chrysanthemum and paulownia are both symbols of the Imperial family. This medal is covered on page 46 of OMJAS.

 

Here is the back. The inscription reads mei-ji-sanju-nana-hachi-nen-sen-eki, top to bottom. This translates as “Meiji 37-8 campaign”. Meiji 37 to 38 corresponds to our years 1905-1905. The medal is 30mm (1-3/16”) in diameter. It is made of a much lighter, more golden coloured metal than any of my other Japanese service medals.

 

The box is made of what seems like balsa wood. The characters in gold on the front of the box say mei-ji-sanju-nana-hachi-nen-ju-gun-ki-sho, or “Meiji 37-8 war medal.

 

            The two large black characters in the upper centre of the certificate say ho-choku, i.e “service to the Emperor”. Below that is a big red seal that starts with Dai Nippon Teikoku (Empire of Greater Japan). The certificate is 459mm X 363mm (18-1/16” X 14-5/16”). It does not have any watermarks or printing or stamps on the back.

 

            In this close-up of the right side of the certificate the first column on the far right just says Nip-pon tei-koku Mei-ji san-ju-nana-hachi-nen-ju-gun-ki-sho-no-sho, “Japanese Empire Certificate for Medal for Military Service During Meiji 37-8 (1904-05)”. The second column gives the name of the recipient, a man with the surname (family name) Takita (literally “waterfall field”). His given name was Kazuo and he was a captain (tai-i) in the cavalry (kihei). I think the designation after his rank indicates he has received two Orders of Merit, probably the Order of the Rising Sun, 7th class, and the Order of the Golden Kite, 5th class. The remaining text reads:

First column after name (third from right): mei-ji-san-ju-nana-hachi-nen-ju-gun-ki-sho-jo-rei-ni-yori

Second column after name: riku-gun-dai-jin-no-so-sei-o-hete-mei-ji-san-ju-kyu-nen-san-gatsu-san-ju-nichi

Third column after name: choku-tei-no-ju-gun-ki-sho-o-ju-yo-su

Fourth column after name (last on left): mei-ji-san-ju-kyu-nen-shi-gatsu-ichi-nichi

            A rough translation is as follows: “The Minister of War [literally, “of the Army”] has petitioned the Emperor in accordance with the regulations regarding the Meiji 37-8 military service medal and the military service medal established by Imperial Edict on March 30, Meiji 39 [1906] is awarded to [the above named recipient] on April 1, Meiji 39 (1906)”.

 

            Here is a close-up of the left side of the certificate. The first column on the far right is the name and stamp of the President of the Board of Decorations. He was a shishaku (viscount). His surname has over a dozen possible pronunciations, most likely Daikyu or Okyu. His given name also has several possible pronunciations: Tsune, Hisashi, Hitoshi and Wataru, for example. Since he was a big shot, I may eventually be able to look him up in a Who’s Who-type directory in Japan and clarify the exact pronunciation.

The second column from the right says: kono-sho-o-kan-sa-shi-dai-ichi-rei-ichi-nana-rei-ichi-roku-go-o-mot-te

The third column from the right (middle column) says: Mei-ji-san-ju-nana-hachi-nen-ju-gun-ki-sho-bo-satsu-ni-to-roku-su.

            These two lines translate roughly as follows: “Having checked this certificate, we have recorded it as number 1017016 in the register of Meiji 37-8 military service medals”.

            The far left side has the names of the two secretaries of the Board of Decorations who made this attestation. The far left column has the name and stamp of Secretary Zengen Fujii (family name Fujii). The second column from the left has the name of another Secretary of the Board, Kanae Yokota (family name Yokota). The same names (Daikyu, Fujii and Yokota) appear on the photo of the certificate shown on the page on my Boxer Rebellion service medal, which is not surprising since they were issued only four years apart. The red stamps at the bottom of each column with a name in it are the name stamps of the official concerned. In Japan such name stamps are often used instead of signatures even today.

 

Here is a close-up of the artwork at the centre bottom of the certificate.

 

            If you would like to find out more about the Russo-Japanese War, Osprey has two useful publications. The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 by Geoffrey Jukes is part of their Essential Histories series and focuses on the events. The Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 by A Ivanov and P. Jowett is part of the Men-at-Arms series and deals more with the equipment and uniforms, etc. in the conflict. Note the very slight difference in titles (the date is 1904-1905 in one and 1904-05 in the other).

 

To return to the base page on Medals, please click here: Nambu World: Japanese Medals

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Last updated: July 21, 2006. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.