ID of Japanese badge needed

[Military Trader]

Hi. I stopped in a junk/curio shop and a guy just got a Japanese piece in. (He went over the top and gave the vet $5 for the badge and a piece of occupation currency--yen). Anyway, I didn't have a camera with me so I'll describe it. The box is sqare about the size of a silver dollar. The award is about the size of a quarter or a little bigger. It is made of bakelite I believe and is a bronze color. It features two crossed rifles and is a lotus flower shaped badge. it hooks onto a loop on a uniform like a German award except the pin is wide. It was wrapped in paper with writing describing the award. I figure it's some kind of shooting badge but I've never seen it before. He wants $100 for it but he usually asks high (sometimes crazy) prices so who knows. From the ordinary quality of the badge my hunch is that is a common award.

Anyone know what it is and it's relative value?

[Eric Doody]

Dennis,

Did the badge looks similar to this one? (See the two photos below.)

Was the box white, made of cardboard, and marked with kanji?

Eric

[Eric Doody]

Photo 2 of 2...

[Laurens Q-fin]

...It is made of bakelite I believe and is a bronze color. It features two crossed rifles and is a lotus flower shaped badge...

Hi Dennis,

At first sight, I would say the same like Eric and think of a cased marksmanship badge. I would be curious though to know if it is truly bakelite. I think they were always made in metal, but would like to find out more as well if they indeed exist in bakelite. More likely, it will be dark-brown metal.
Otherwise, price for a cased set sounds good here. I haven't seen examples for sale at 100$ and the ones I saw went for twice as much or higher. But then again, you have to be sure the case goes along with the badge. Too bad you didn't have a camera at hand...

Cheers,
Laurens

[Eric Doody]

Dennis, Laurens, et al.,

I believe the earlier Army proficiency badges were made of a combination of nickel, brass, and copper while late war examples can be found in an early form of celluloid or Bakelite.

Eric

[Military Trader]

Well, I went ahead and traded for the badge not long after I posted. The guy wanted a fake Bowie knife that I got in a trade. I had about $125 or so in the knife and I was just going to use it to show at school when I talked about the Alamo but I decided to trade because I would rather have a real piece of militaria than a fake knife. You all were right, it is metal (I'm pretty sure). I was just going by what the store owner told me. Here are some pictures. If anyone know can tell me what the kanji says I'd appreciate it. There is a neat paper in the box also.

[Military Trader]

reverse

[Military Trader]

box top

[Military Trader]

Neat paper in box

[Eric Doody]

Dennis,

Nice badge!

The kanji on the box translates to "Rifle Marksmanship Proficiency [or Excellence] Badge (Ordinary)". (The photo of the box is upside down.)

The rice paper is an advertisement for a "Greater East Asia War Commemorative Medal".

Eric

[Military Trader]

Thanks Eric.

[Jareth]

Eric, isn't that an illustration of an aviation related watch fob?

[Eric Doody]

Eric, isn't that an illustration of an aviation related watch fob?

According to the advertisement, the illustration, which does looks similar to an aviation training school watch fob, is a Greater East Asian War Commemorative Medal. The reverse of "the medal" in the illustration, which appears to be dated August 1942, also indicates that "the medal" is to commemorate The Greater East Asia War.

[Jareth]

OK that's really weird as I'm certain it's a watch fob. Maybe it's a period typo!

[plmurphy]

OK that's really weird as I'm certain it's a watch fob. Maybe it's a period typo!

The Japanese word in katakana "medaru" which is used here translates as medal into English but the nuance is any small medallic type object that is suspended or worn. Hence, it could apply loosly to something that would be used as a watch fob. The more correct word for Medal, as we understand it, is written in kanji and is either "kunsho", "kinensho" or sometimes "kisho", depending on the purpose of the award. Kunsho is the most common term.

Regards,

Paul