Item number: M490

Year: AD 1921-1923

Material: Bronze

Size: 92.5 x 30.1 x 2.5 mm

Weight: 17.2 g

Manufactured by: Japan Mint, Osaka

Provenance: eMedals 2022

This is a First National Census Commemorative Medal, issued by the Empire of Japan from AD 1921 (the tenth year of the Taisho era) onwards; archival records indicate that award certificates for this medal continued to be granted until AD 1923.

The centre of the obverse depicts a Kokushi (provincial governor), a local administrative office established during the Taika Reforms (commencing in AD 645) in imitation of the Tang Dynasty systems of Cishi (prefects) and Taishou (commandery governors). The figure wears a suiei-kan (a court cap with a hanging ribbon) and a hōeki-nō-hō (a stitched-axilla court robe), holding a brush at a desk with his right hand and a scroll of the family register (shizoku-bengan) in his left hand. The edge of the medal features a raised, continuous scalloped pattern outlining chrysanthemum petals, which represents the Japanese Imperial Family.

The central inscription on the reverse is arranged horizontally as ‘National Census / Commemorative Medal’, flanked above and below by the curvilinear inscription ‘Taisho 9th Year / 10th Month 1st Day’, denoting the inaugural date of the first national census. The outer rim forms concentric circles, with the outer ring higher than the inner one.

The suspension at the top of the medal is formed of a paulownia leaf, topped with a bud-shaped ball through which the suspension ring passes; the paulownia crest (kirimon) has served as a symbol of the Japanese government since the Meiji period. The ribbon is divided into roughly three equal vertical stripes, consisting of a central white stripe flanked by two purple stripes, with narrower white borders on both outer edges. It is crafted from watered silk (moiré silk), which exhibits a fluid reflection under light.

The medal was designed by Hata Shokichi, a native of Toyama Prefecture who served as a professor at both the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now the Tokyo University of the Arts) and the Tokyo Higher School of Arts and Crafts (now Chiba University). From AD 1907 to 1910, he travelled to France as an overseas business trainee for the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, becoming the first Japanese sculptor to be admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In AD 1915 (the fourth year of the Taisho era), he was appointed as a shokutaku (technical consultant) to the Japan Mint. In AD 1927 (the second year of the Showa era), he became the director of the Sculpture Research Institute. Although the institute was dissolved in AD 1930, he remained with the Mint as a consultant until AD 1948. During this period, he also served concurrently as a consultant to the Bureau of Merit and Awards. Hata Shokichi is widely renowned as the creator of the Order of Culture; the bust of Director Hasegawa, which currently stands at the Japan Mint Headquarters in Osaka, was executed under his direct supervision.

On 1 December AD 1902, the Prime Minister of Japan, Katsura Taro, promulgated Law No. 49, which decreed that a national census should be conducted every ten years, with the first national census scheduled to take place across the entire territory of the Empire in AD 1905. Subsequently, due to the escalation of the Russo-Japanese War (AD 1904–1905), Prime Minister Katsura Taro issued Law No. 13 on 15 February 1905, postponing the first national census originally scheduled for that year. On 25 September AD 1918, the Emperor of Japan approved the Imperial Ordinance for the Enforcement of the National Census (Imperial Edict No. 358), ordering the national census to commence on 1 October AD 1920 (the ninth year of the Taisho era). Japan regarded this census as the starting point for its modernisation and national strengthening. To commemorate this grand event, an Imperial Edict of the Empire of Japan was issued on 17 June AD 1921 to bestow the First National Census Commemorative Medal upon ‘those who participated directly in the first national census’ and ‘those who assisted in the first national census’. This included collaborators from colonies and occupied territories; according to sources, this specific specimen originated from Manchukuo. In AD 1922, the Japanese Diet passed an amendment to the National Census Act, mandating that full national censuses be held in years ending in zero, and simplified national censuses in years ending in five—a tradition that continues uninterrupted to this day.

物件編號: M490

年代: 公元 1921-1923 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 92.5 x 30.1 x 2.5 mm

重量: 17.2 g

製造地: 造幣局大阪本局

來源: e徽章 2022

這是一枚大日本帝國於大正十年(公元1921年)起頒發的第一回國勢調查紀念章，從檔案來看，直至大正十二年都存在授予書。

章體正面的中央刻有一名大化革新時期（公元645年起），模仿唐代刺史、太守制度，所固定下來的地方行政長官職位「國司」的形象。其頭戴垂纓冠，身著縫腋袍，右手持筆扶案，左手持一卷戶籍（氏族編管）卷軸。章緣為凸起的連弧紋，呈菊花花瓣的輪廓，代表日本皇室。

背面中央銘文為橫列的「国勢調查 / 記念章」，其上下各環列銘文「大正九年 / 十月一日」，即為第一次國勢調查的起始日。章緣邊環呈外高內低的同心圓。

章體上方的頂飾為桐葉，桐葉上方有花蕾狀的圓球，供吊環穿過，桐紋自明治時期以來便是日本政府的象徵。綬帶則是中央的白色條帶夾以兩道紫色條帶，略呈三等分。兩側邊緣為較細的白色條帶。採用了波紋綢工藝，會在光線下呈現流動的反光。

設計者應為畑正吉，其於富山縣出身，曾任東京美術學校（今東京藝術大學）和東京高等工藝學校（今千葉大學）教授。公元1907年至1910年，他作為農商省的海外商務實習生前往法國，成為第一位被巴黎美術學院錄取的日本雕塑家。大正四年（公元1915年）獲聘為造幣局的囑託（技術顧問）；昭和二年（公元1927年）出任雕刻研究所所長。儘管該研究所於昭和五年遭到廢除，他仍繼續以囑託身份留任至昭和二十三年。在此期間，他也曾兼任賞勳局的囑託。畑正吉以身為「文化勳章」的製作者而聞名；目前現存於大阪造幣本局內的長谷川局長胸像，便是在他的指導之下製作完成的。

公元1902年12月1日，日本內閣總理大臣桂太郎發布法律第49號，規定每10年舉行一次國勢調查（人口普查），且公元1905年在帝國全版圖內舉行第一回國勢調查。隨後，因日俄戰爭（公元1904-1905年）愈演愈烈，內閣總理大臣桂太郎於1905年2月15日發布法律第13號，將原訂當年舉行的第一回國勢調查暫緩。公元1918年9月25日，日本天皇裁可「國勢調查施行令」（敕令第358號），令國勢調查於大正九年（公元1920年）十月一日展開。日本將該調查作為進行現代化而強國的起點，為紀念該盛事，於大正十年（公元1921年）六月十七日發布了大日本帝國敕令，向「直接參與第一次國勢調查之人員」以及「協助第一次國勢調查之人員」頒發第一次國勢調查紀念章，包含各殖民地的協力者，而據來源稱，本藏品便來自滿州國。公元1922年，日本國會通過國勢調查法修正案，規定往後每逢西元年尾數0舉辦國勢調查；每逢西元年尾數5舉辦簡易國勢調查，時至今日，未曾中斷。