Item number: M551

Year: AD 1941

Material: Bronze

Size: 34.3 x 29.7 x 2.5 mm

Weight: 14.8 g

Provenance: Private Collector, Taiwan 2026

This is a National Census Commemorative Medal, instituted and issued by the puppet Manchukuo regime in the eighth year of the Kangde era (AD 1941) to confer upon personnel who participated in the national census of the seventh year of the Kangde era (AD 1940).

The medal is circular in form, featuring a spherical suspension loop at the top. The obverse depicts a frontal relief view of the State Council Building of Manchukuo. Positioned above it is the imperial crest and national emblem of Manchukuo, the Orchid Star, which features the five-petalled spring orchid—the personal imperial floral emblem of Puyi—as its central motif, interspersed with sorghum blossoms, the national flower of Manchukuo. The background features an incised map delineating the entire territory of Manchukuo. In the centre of the reverse, the characters for “National Census Commemorative Medal” (國勢調查紀念章) are rendered vertically in clerical script, flanked on either side by inscriptions recording the commemorative date: “Seventh Year of Kangde” (康德七年) and “First of October” (十月一日). The fields of both the obverse and reverse are flat, with slightly raised rims, whilst the edge is entirely plain and unornamented.

The original ribbon features a deep crimson central stripe bordered by red stripes on either side. Wearing the medal was strictly restricted to the recipient; individuals acquiring the insignia through inheritance were permitted only to retain and preserve it.

On 1 December AD 1902, the Prime Minister of Japan, Katsura Tarō, promulgated Law No. 49, stipulating that a national population census be conducted decennially, with the inaugural census scheduled to take place throughout the empire in AD 1905. Subsequently, as the Russo-Japanese War (AD 1904–1905) intensified, Katsura issued Law No. 13 on 15 February AD 1905, postponing the inaugural census originally scheduled for that year. On 25 September AD 1918, the Japanese Emperor sanctioned the National Census Implementation Order (Imperial Ordinance No. 358), ordaining that the first national census be initiated on 1 October in the ninth year of the Taishō era (AD 1920). In AD 1922, the Japanese Imperial Diet passed an amendment to the National Census Act, decreeing that a full national census be held in every year ending in zero, and a simplified census in every year ending in five. Following the establishment of Manchukuo in AD 1934, its first formal national census was conducted in AD 1940, which ultimately proved to be its only one.

Manchukuo was a puppet state created by Japan in the wake of the Mukden Incident of AD 1931, engineered to facilitate the military occupation of north-eastern China. To advance its colonial rule and expansionist ambitions, Japan installed the abdicated Qing Emperor Puyi as “Chief Executive” in AD 1932 (subsequently proclaimed “Emperor” in AD 1934), establishing the capital at Xinjing (present-day Changchun); for this reason, the regime is conventionally referred to as “Puppet Manchukuo”. Throughout its fourteen-year existence, substantive power was exercised entirely by the Japanese Kwantung Army, with the territory serving as a vital strategic and material base for Japan’s full-scale invasion of China and prosecution of the Second World War. This state of affairs persisted until August AD 1945, when Japan’s defeat and unconditional surrender, alongside the Soviet Red Army’s offensive into north-eastern China, prompted Puyi’s abdication and the complete dissolution of the Manchukuo regime.

物件編號: M551

年代: 公元 1941 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 34.3 x 29.7 x 2.5 mm

重量: 14.8 g

來源: 臺灣私人收藏 2026

這是一枚國勢調查紀念章，由偽滿洲國政權於康德八年（公元1941年）所發行，授予參與康德七年國勢調查的相關人員。

章體為圓形，上方有球形穿孔懸掛。正面為滿洲國國務院廳舍的正視圖浮雕。上方則是滿洲國皇室紋章暨國徽蘭花星，以溥儀御用花五瓣春蘭為主體，花瓣間飾以滿洲國花高粱花。背景則為陰刻的滿洲國全境地圖。背面中央豎列隸體漢字「國勢調查紀念章」，兩側則為「康德七年 / 十月一日」紀事及紀日。正背面底章光平，章緣微微突起。邊緣則光平無文。

原章綬帶為中央濃紅色，左右為紅色。僅限本人配戴，因繼承而擁有獎章者僅能保存。

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），令首次國勢調查於大正九年（公元1920年）十月一日展開。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。由於滿洲國於公元1934年建立，所以於公元1940年首度舉行正式國勢調查，同時也是最後一次。

滿洲國係日本於公元1931年策劃「九一八事變」佔領中國東北後，為遂行殖民統治與擴張企圖，於公元1932年擁立清朝遜帝溥儀為「執政」（後於公元1934年改稱皇帝）定都新京（今長春），所建立的傀儡政權，也因此習稱「偽滿洲國」；在其十四年的存續期間，政權實權完全由日本關東軍掌控，並被作為日本發動全面侵華與二次大戰的戰略物資基地，直至公元1945年8月日本戰敗投降及蘇聯紅軍進攻東北，溥儀宣佈退位，滿洲國遂隨之徹底覆滅。