The China Incident Medal (or 支那事変従軍記章, Sina jihen jūgun kishō) commemorates the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), also known as the China Incident, and was issued to Japanese personnel who departed for service in China. The colours on the ribbon represent the Navy (blue), Air Force (light blue), Army (tan), the blood stained soil of China (pink) and loyalty (red).

 

This medal was established by Imperial Edit 496 on 27 July 1939. It was awarded for service in China at any time from the 12-20th years of the Shōwa period (1937–1945).

 

The decoration was abolished in 1946 by government ordinance 177. Although the Japanese government still uses “China Incident” in formal documents, media in Japan often paraphrase it with other expressions like Japan-China Incident (日華事変, Nikka jihen) or (日支事変, Nisshi jihen). 

 

Description

The obverse of the medal shows the mythical giant crow 'yata-no-karasu', Japanese Army and Navy flags and a chrysanthemum crest. The reverse depicts mountains and the sea and an inscription of four Japanese characters. An inscription on the suspender translates to 'War Medal'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone has more info or pictures that they'd like to share, feel free to post them here!

Excellent close up photos!

 

Here is an example of the ribbon bar (ribbon on the right) that was worn to indicate this award.

 

 

I was looking around online for a picture of the case/box this would have come in, and found this on an old archived sale listing . . . Don't know if this is what the majority would have come in, but for reference, I thought this shows a nice box and some sort of paper (I'm assuming a certificate showing who it was awarded to?) - 

 

Elizabeth-

   Very nice images of an award that should be in any Japanese "medals and/or awards" collection.  I didn't know you were a Japanese medals and awards collector.  Do you have other examples to share?

9 minutes ago, Fortunes Of War said:

Elizabeth-

   Very nice images of an award that should be in any Japanese "medals and/or awards" collection.  I didn't know you were a Japanese medals and awards collector.  Do you have other examples to share?

 

Actually, I'm not really. I don't really do Japanese much at all. However, I can't resist either taking pics of things I have had or getting pics from friends, and I am trying to boost the database on here with "reference" type posts that show different awards. This is actually just a pretty medal, and I thought I'd do some research! It has been fun researching assorted worldwide awards that I really never thought to look in to! I don't believe I've ever had any other Japanese awards, actually. The Japanese medal I'd actually own is the WWI Victory medal! Such a cool set!

The Japanese WW1 victory medal is a beautiful medal, especially with its "rainbow" colored ribbon.  That medal is out out there, although it is a little tough to find.  

Another cased example, courtesy of vintageproductions:

 

I picked this one up at an antique ball cheap! 

I was lucky enough to work in Japan for a few years and used to occasionally go around the flea markets buying medals. This is the China Incident medal I picked up in Tokyo in 1997 - just 1500 yen at the time, that's about 11 USD or Euros at the moment which seems a pretty good price for any medal these days (the way the prices keep shooting up). It's not boxed, but you can't have everything....

Rob

This one is in my collection. It came with the paper which I forgot to take a picture of. I looked into what the paper is, and it gives the name of the manufacturer whose name I forget at the moment.