Item number: M526

Year: AD 1940

Material: Cupronickel 

Size: 25 x 21.4 x 1.7 mm

Weight: 5.8 g

Provenance: Quan Jian Zhai 2026

This is a participation medal from the 16th Chōsen Shrine Athletic Meeting.

The obverse depicts a distant view of Chōsen Shrine looking towards the torii gate, with a lantern beside the first torii, followed by the divine gate (shinmon) behind the final torii, and Namsan Peak—where Chōsen Shrine was located—rising in the background. The centre of the reverse features an abstract 5-3 Paulownia (Gosan no Kiri) crest, composed of three leaves and three upright inflorescences, with the central stalk bearing five flowers and the flanking stalks bearing three. The 5-3 Paulownia is one of the symbolic crests of the Japanese Imperial Family and served as a key element in the emblem of the Government-General of Chōsen. Overlaid on the paulownia motif is the inscription “Sports Association” in gilt characters, surrounded along the outer rim by the inscription “Imperial Year 2600 / The 16th Chōsen Shrine Athletic Meeting / Participation Medal”. Raised raised rims border both the obverse and reverse, topped with an attachment loop for suspension.

Following the outbreak of the March First Movement in AD 1919, the Japanese colonial authorities shifted their governance strategy from the harshly repressive “military rule” to a “cultural policy” focused on assimilation and conciliation. Against this backdrop, Keijō Prefecture (present-day Seoul) embarked on large-scale urban redevelopment, leading to the consecutive completions of Chōsen Shrine—a grand shrine of the first rank (Kanpei-taisha)—and the modern Keijō Stadium. The Korea Sports Association subsequently founded the Chōsen Shrine Athletic Meeting in AD 1925. The event aimed to integrate colonial subjects into the imperial system through an official-led public sporting gala, championing the policy ideology of “harmony between Japan and Korea” while serving as a pathway to select athletes to represent Korea at the Meiji Shrine Games in mainland Japan and in international competitions.

Since its inauguration in AD 1925, the scale and scope of the meeting continuously expanded. During the 1920s, the events primarily comprised modern Western sports such as track and field and ball games. From AD 1927, mass gymnastics involving thousands of male and female secondary school students were introduced, significantly enhancing the meeting’s festive flair and mobilising impact. Entering the 1930s, the meeting progressively incorporated traditional Japanese martial arts, including sumo, judo, and kendo, while briefly adopting indigenous traditional sports such as Korean archery and Korean wrestling (ssireum) in AD 1941. Regarding the participant structure, although event officials and organisational power remained dominated by the Japanese, the proportion of Japanese and Korean athletes was remarkably balanced, albeit showing distinct event preferences—for instance, baseball and archery were predominantly Japanese, whereas football and soft tennis were mostly Korean. Korean society likewise transformed this stage into a space for demonstrating national capability and fostering national consciousness by reporting on the outstanding achievements of Korean athletes, such as record-breaking performances.

In July AD 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and Japan began its comprehensive transition towards a total war system. As the situation in the Second World War continued to deteriorate, the meeting ultimately underwent complete militarisation. Events from AD 1939 onwards began incorporating grenade throwing and weighted running. The year AD 1940 coincided with the “2600th Anniversary of the Imperial Era” promoted by Japanese officials, marking the 16th meeting as one of the key celebratory (“hōshuku”) components of the imperial commemorative festivities. Consequently, the authorities of the Government-General of Chōsen vigorously sought to strengthen the link between physical education and imperial national strategy. During his address at the opening ceremony, Shiobara Tokisaburō, then Director of the Bureau of Educational Affairs of the Government-General, explicitly proclaimed: “The true purpose of physical education lies in thoroughly instilling the Japanese spirit and further contributing to the enhancement of national strategy; physical education outside of this is misguided.” Furthermore, this edition formally established an independent “National Defence Competition” out of the grenade throwing and weighted running events trialled during the track and field program the previous year (AD 1939), calling upon participants to uphold the Bushido spirit of treating the athletic field as a battlefield.

In AD 1942, management of the meeting was transferred to the Korea Sports Promotion Association, an entity established under the direction of the Government-General, which mandated that all participants pass physical fitness medal examinations. By the 19th meeting in AD 1943, in response to the implementation of conscription in Korea, the Government-General of Korea assumed direct sponsorship, abolishing all ball sports in favour of military combat drills, including armed marches, bayonet fencing, marksmanship, and maritime and land armoured unit training. Following Japan’s defeat and surrender in AD 1945, Chōsen Shrine was demolished, bringing a definitive end to this grand athletic event that had served imperial militarist ideology.

物件編號: M526

年代: 公元 1940 年

材質: 白銅

尺寸: 25 x 21.4 x 1.7 mm

重量: 5.8 g

來源: 泉鑒齋 2026

這是一枚第十六屆朝鮮神宮奉贊體育大會的參加章。

正面為朝鮮神宮之外，往鳥居望去的遠景，第一鳥居旁有燈籠，最後的鳥居後方是神門，後方山峰即為朝鮮神宮所在的南山山頂。背面中央為抽象的「五三桐」，由三片葉子和三根直立的花序構成，中央花序有五朵花，兩側為三朵。五三桐是日本皇室的象徵紋章之一，也是朝鮮總督府徽記中的重要元素。五三桐圖樣上書金字「體協」，周圍沿章緣環列「紀元二千六百年 / 第十六回朝鮮神宮奉贊体育大會 / 參加章」。正背面章緣均有邊環，上端有懸吊連接吊環。

公元1919年，三一獨立運動爆發後，日本殖民當局將統治方針由嚴厲壓制的「武斷政治」轉向注重同化與懷柔的「文化政治」。在此背景下，京城府（今首爾）推動大規模都市改造，官幣大社「朝鮮神宮」與現代化場館「京城運動場」相繼落成。朝鮮體育協會遂於1925年創辦朝鮮神宮競技大會，旨在藉由官方主導的公共體育盛會，將殖民地居民納入帝國運作體系，並標榜「內鮮融和」的政策理念，同時以此作為遴選選手前往日本本土參加明治神宮體育大會乃至國際賽事的管道。

大會自公元1925年首屆舉辦以來，賽事規模與內容持續擴張。公元1920年代賽事以田徑與球類等現代西方競技為主，公元1927年起更引入數千名男女中學生參與的大型集體操（Mass Games），顯著提升了大會的祝祭色彩與動員效果。進入公元1930年代，大會陸續將相撲、柔道、劍道等日本傳統武術納入競賽，並在公元1941年短暫引入朝鮮弓道與朝鮮相撲等本土傳統體育。在參賽結構上，儘管賽事幹部與組織權力長期由日人主導，但參賽選手中日人與朝鮮人的比例相當接近，並呈現出不同的項目偏好，如棒球與弓道多為日人，足球與軟式網球則以朝鮮人居多；朝鮮社會亦透過報導朝鮮選手打破紀錄等傑出表現，將此舞台轉化為展現民族能力與凝聚民族意識的空間。

公元1937年7月，中國爆發抗日戰爭，日本開始全面邁向總力戰體制。隨著二次大戰局勢持續惡化，大會最終走向完全軍事化。公元1939年起的賽事開始加入手榴彈擲遠與負重跑步。公元1940年則適逢日本官方宣揚的「皇紀2600年」，第十六屆大會因而被列為帝國紀念慶典的重要「奉祝」環節之一。因此，朝鮮總督府當局極力強化體育與帝國國家戰略的連結，時任總督府學務局長鹽原時三郎於入場式致詞時更明確宣稱：「體育的真正目的在於徹底貫徹日本精神，並進一步資於國家戰略之增強，除此之外的體育皆為邪道。」 此外，本屆賽事正式將前一年（1939年）在田徑項目中試行之手榴彈擲遠與負重跑步等項目獨立出來，新設「國防競技」，要求參賽者秉持將競技場視同戰場的武士道精神。

公元1942年，大會改由總督府主導成立的「朝鮮體育振興會」主管，要求參賽者必須通過體力章檢定；到了公元1943年第十九屆，因應徵兵制在朝鮮的實施，大會改由朝鮮總督府直接主辦，並取消所有球類運動，全面改為武裝行軍、槍劍道、射擊及海洋與陸上機甲訓練等軍事戰技演練。隨著日本在公元1945年戰敗投降，朝鮮神宮被拆除，這項服務於帝國軍國意識形態下的體育盛會也隨之終結。