I actually got a pretty good deal on it, buying it from a fellow in Japan and taking a chance that it would be a decent one based on a few poor cell phone photos. When I received it I found it was a good example, aside from the little peg the latch locks onto missing on the box, and as an unexpected bonus, there were documents with it.
Looking over the paperwork and puzzling through the kanji at my usual slow pace interrupted by frequent searches through kanji dictionaries, I learned it was the recipient who paid a very high price for this posthumously awarded Golden Kite 7th Class.
The medal itself.
The box. Maybe of interest to collectors who want to get an idea of the date their GK7 were made, since this comes with documentation showing it was a 1943 award.
Documents that came with the medal
Top Left: Envelope for a condolence donation from the Emperor & Empress.
Top Right: Award document
Bottom: envelopes for 2 condolence letters, one printed, one hand written.
The award document
Navy Machinist Petty Officer 2 Class Kofuji Yoshiyuki, awarded the Golden Kite 7th Class, the White Paulownia (Order of the Rising Sun) 8th, and a payment of 1800 yen, dated Showa 18.7.27 (July 27, 1943)
祭粢料 is translated as "Donation made to a ritual", the kanji are actually "festival" "rice cake" "fee", which sounds pretty festive, but in this use it means a mourning gift from the Imperial house. The right side says "Their Majesties, the Emperor & Empress", the left is the name and rank of PO2 Kofuji. The envelope is empty and probably contained cash.
This is a condolence "form letter", pre-printed with the name and rank of PO2 Kofuji written in. Whoever did that didn't even bother to fill in the space for the date on the end.
I haven't tried to translate either of these condolence letters aside from the heading and the date, but this one is obviously much more thoughtful and sincere than the form letter. It is all hand written and quite long, both in content and the physical size of the paper. It is dated Showa 19.1.29 (Jan. 29, 1944)
Looking over the paperwork and puzzling through the kanji at my usual slow pace interrupted by frequent searches through kanji dictionaries, I learned it was the recipient who paid a very high price for this posthumously awarded Golden Kite 7th Class.
The medal itself.
The box. Maybe of interest to collectors who want to get an idea of the date their GK7 were made, since this comes with documentation showing it was a 1943 award.
Documents that came with the medal
Top Left: Envelope for a condolence donation from the Emperor & Empress.
Top Right: Award document
Bottom: envelopes for 2 condolence letters, one printed, one hand written.
The award document
Navy Machinist Petty Officer 2 Class Kofuji Yoshiyuki, awarded the Golden Kite 7th Class, the White Paulownia (Order of the Rising Sun) 8th, and a payment of 1800 yen, dated Showa 18.7.27 (July 27, 1943)
祭粢料 is translated as "Donation made to a ritual", the kanji are actually "festival" "rice cake" "fee", which sounds pretty festive, but in this use it means a mourning gift from the Imperial house. The right side says "Their Majesties, the Emperor & Empress", the left is the name and rank of PO2 Kofuji. The envelope is empty and probably contained cash.
This is a condolence "form letter", pre-printed with the name and rank of PO2 Kofuji written in. Whoever did that didn't even bother to fill in the space for the date on the end.
I haven't tried to translate either of these condolence letters aside from the heading and the date, but this one is obviously much more thoughtful and sincere than the form letter. It is all hand written and quite long, both in content and the physical size of the paper. It is dated Showa 19.1.29 (Jan. 29, 1944)
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