Japanese EK Markings

[Diane]

Can anyone translate the markings on the pin of this EK?







WAF Thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=178497

[cbuehler]

Can you get a closer picture? I cant quite make out all of it clearly enough. Although at first sight it looks like Kanji, it may not be.

CB

[Diane]

A Closer look . . .

I've enlarged the image and adjusted the contrast a little.

[cbuehler]

It looks similar to certain Kanji characters, but I just cannot make it out well enough to be certain. It is just too small and parts of it are not legible enough.
It appears to be hand engraved and is indistinct because of its small size.
I dont think anyone (not even native Japanese or Chinese) could be sure because of these aspects, but good luck anyway!

CB

[jlava]

I sent it to a friend I used to work with who is now living in Japan. He has shown it his brother-in-law, but due to image size and quality they are having trouble. Any chance of a better shot?

[Diane]

Another scan of the markings

Hi,

Here is a clearer image of the marking(s). I wiped the pin with a cloth to remove some of the grunge.



This is a high resolution image scanned at 350 dpi. I hope this enables you to identify the Kanji.

Thanks for your help.

Diane

[cbuehler]

Although it does have some parts that appear to be kanji, I do not believe that it is. It has no recognizable radicals that would that would conjoin to make a real kanji character.

CB

[Dave Alexander]

Please excuse my meagre knowledge of Japanese, but the characters, to me, appear more like Katakana than Kanji. The bottom right one "ro" meaning fireplace or furnace (foundry?). The others look superimposed due to either an error in casting or stamping, but with a slight adjustment they could be "boei-sho' meaning Defense Ministry. In Kanji the trident would be "yama" mountain.
As you say this is all very puzzling. Can't wait for someone to come up with a real translation!

[Eric Doody]

If the photo where to be rotated 90 degrees clockwise, the subject markings, when read from left to right, appear to be the mirror image of the kanji "Tou" followed by the kanji "Do" or "Toudo" which means China. (The "Tou" kanji appears to be backwards.)

Out of curiosity, what is the history of this badge?

[Diane]

A brief history of th EK

Hi,

This is a one piece die struck German 1939 Iron Cross First Class which appears to be made of solid silver.

My Dad brought this back from Japan in 1945. He was one of the guys sent in to demobilize Japanese military equipment after the war ended.

One Japanese friend that examined this marking said that it was an old charachter not in common use any longer.

The Chinese marking can't be right. Maybe I should enlarge it further, would that help?


Diane

[Finnishlion178]

Well, I know that there two types of Foreign made Iron Crosses during the War. That are known. One is Spanish and the other is Japanese. A lot of the iron crosses that were Japanese made were issued to kriegmarines who were station in Japan during the War. If the kanji said china. Do you think it could be War booty from the Japanese attacking China? I know that first German soldier killed was in a Chinese Tank. Well, the German did train the Chinese Nationalists.. Could it be Chinese made? but the Japanese did make two types of Iron Crosses. One for soldiers and the other for civilans who were stuck in Japan at the end of the war. But those were pure sliver and only 28 were made. This one may never had been issued to a Kriegmarine.

[Eric Doody]

Hi,

This is a one piece die struck German 1939 Iron Cross First Class which appears to be made of solid silver.

My Dad brought this back from Japan in 1945. He was one of the guys sent in to demobilize Japanese military equipment after the war ended.

One Japanese friend that examined this marking said that it was an old charachter not in common use any longer.

The Chinese marking can't be right. Maybe I should enlarge it further, would that help?


Diane

Diane,

Thanks for the interesting history on the subject badge.

As for my earlier translation, I probably should have added that "Tou" may also translate to "foreign country or countries" in addition to "Tang (dynasty); China; Cathay; Korea; or foreign" while "Do" translates to "earth, ground, soil, etc."

According to The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary that I use, "Toudo" is translated as "China or Cathay." (Maybe another translation would be "foreign ground or country" badge.)

As noted in my earlier posting, the "Tou" marking appears to be "backwards" or a mirror image of how it should be in my opinion.

Out of curiosity, did the Japanese friend that you showed the markings to say anything more than the markings were old and not in common use anymore?

By the way, I live about an hour or so south of you in MA.

Eric

[Eric Doody]

Diane et al.,

FOUND IT!

The character in question is the kanji "Tou" [this "Tou" is different than the other "Tou" I mentioned in my earlier posts] which means dike or embankment. (The character is probably used as an abbreviation.) The character is still "backwards" or a mirror image of how I would expect to see the character though. I will either scan or photograph the character that I found in my "kanji book" later today and I will post an image of the character for all to see.

Eric

[Jareth]

On the German photo board there are pictures of German sailors in Japan with a VERY interesting related story. Check it out.

[Eric Doody]

Diane et al.,

Here is a photo of the subject kanji that I found in my kanji book...

Eric

P.S. If one were to rotate the photos that Diane posted of the subject badge 90 degrees clockwise, the marking on the badge appears to be the mirror image of the kanji shown below.