Item number: M549

Year: AD 1895

Material: Cupronickel

Size: 30.2 x 30.2 x 1.7 mm

Weight: 10.3 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2026

This is a commemorative medallion-plaque presented to returning servicemen by one of the relief and mutual aid associations established across various localities in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War of AD 1894-AD 1895.

The medallion is circular in form. In the centre of the obverse, the kanji characters Gisei (義誠, denoting righteousness and sincerity) are set vertically in seal script, encircled by a wreath of Japanese horse chestnut branches, the tree known natively as tochigi. The field is smooth and plain, enclosed by an outer rim bearing inward-pointing denticulations. The reverse features a similarly smooth field with two vertical lines of seal-script characters reading “Tochigi Prefecture Civilian / Commemorative Plaque for the Expedition against the Qing” (栃木縣民間 / 征清紀念牌). Devoid of any suspension loop, ring, or ribbon, the object was evidently intended to serve as a freestanding ornamental display piece.

The edge is plain, bearing the stamped character zō (造, denoting manufacture) alongside a maker’s mark resembling a target. Although this target-like emblem bears a visual resemblance to the hallmark of the Tanase Badge Manufactory, distinct differences remain. Furthermore, given that the Tanase Badge Manufactory was situated in Nagoya, a considerable geographical distance from Tochigi Prefecture, the historical connexion between the workshop and this commemorative issue warrants further scholarly inquiry.

Following the outbreak and subsequent conclusion of the war in AD 1894 and AD 1895, local municipalities and notable civic figures across Japan spontaneously founded organisations such as the Associations for the Relief of Soldiers Departing for the Front, the Conscription Relief Societies, and Martial Virtue Societies, thereby instigating a home-front support movement of unprecedented scale. These bodies conducted solemn send-off ceremonies upon the departure of troops for the front. When victorious soldiers returned, civic delegates travelled to major railway stations to greet them, hosting grand welcoming banquets at the entrances of villages and guiding the servicemen to local Shinto shrines to pay homage. Concurrently, these charitable associations collected donations to disburse solatium funds, provide financial relief to impoverished military households, and organise massive communal village funerals for the war dead that mobilised thousands of residents. To preserve the martial achievements of the soldiers and the sacrifices of the fallen for posterity, local groups raised funds to strike commemorative medallions and erected numerous memorial stelae and loyal spirit monuments (chūkonbi) within shrines and public parks, effectively transforming collective acts of relief and support into a profound source of local cohesion.

This localised support network accelerated the close integration of the military institution with regional society. Through communal rituals of send-off and relief involving entire villages, departing soldiers were entrusted with the heavy responsibility of upholding the honour and prestige of their native localities, ceasing to be regarded merely as coerced draftees. Furthermore, the economic stimulus generated by garrisons and regional manoeuvres revitalised local economies, narrowing the psychological chasm between the armed forces and the civilian populace. In areas with permanent military cantonments, such as Kasumigaura, soldiers frequented civilian boarding houses, shared communal living spaces, and even intermarried with local farming families, embedding the military, once seen as an aloof state apparatus, into the everyday fabric of local society.

The extensive mobilisation orchestrated by these local relief societies, combined with the deepening localisation of the armed forces, jointly catalysed a profound shift in modern Japanese popular perceptions of the conscription system. Military service, which had been intensely resisted during the early Meiji era following the Conscription Ordinance of AD 1873, was refashioned into the supreme civic honour under the impetus of victory dispatches, triumphal celebrations, and commemorative monument construction. The communal singing of martial songs and the propagation of martial values gradually permeated daily life, fomenting a heightened state of war fever. A spirit of rivalry even emerged among neighbouring villages, which competed to stage increasingly lavish banquets and send-off ceremonies to assert their local prestige. This grassroots support mechanism, initiated locally and combining economic incentives with affective bonds, successfully internalised the state’s external warfare as the collective enterprise of village communities, ultimately providing the foundational impetus for the subsequent rise of militarism.

物件編號: M549

年代: 公元 1895 年

材質: 白銅

尺寸: 30.2 x 30.2 x 1.7 mm

重量: 10.3 g

來源: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2026

這是一枚中日甲午戰爭後，各地舉行的慰勞義會之一所贈予歸國軍人的紀念章牌。

章體呈圓形。正面中央豎列篆體漢字「義誠」，以日本七葉樹樹枝組成的葉冠環繞。日本七葉樹即「栃木」。底章光平，邊緣有邊環，內側有凸齒向內。背面豎列篆體漢字「栃木縣民間 / 征清紀念牌」，底章光平。無任何懸掛及綬帶，應作為擺件之用。

邊緣光平，有一處「造」以及一枚標記，形似標靶。該標靶標記與「棚瀨徽章製作所」形似卻又不同，又，棚瀨徽章製作所位於名古屋，與栃木限相差甚遠，其中聯繫待考。

甲午戰爭爆發以及之後，日本各地自治體與民間名士自發成立「出征軍人慰勞會」、「徵兵慰勞義會」及「尚武會」等組織，推動了規模空前的地方後援運動。這些團體在士兵出征時舉行隆重的送別式，凱旋時則由地方代表遠赴大車站迎駕，並在村口設宴、引導兵士至當地神社參拜。同時，義會透過籌集捐款發放慰勞金、提供貧困家屬扶助，並為戰歿者舉行動員數千人的盛大村葬。為了將出征軍功與戰死者的偉業留傳後世，各地方團體更集資鑄造紀念章，甚或在神社或公園內大量建立紀念碑與忠魂碑，使慰勞與後援活動的集體實踐轉化為地方的高度凝聚力。

這種地方性的後援網絡，加速了軍隊與地域社會的緊密結合。透過全村參與的慰勞儀式與送別活動，出征士兵被寄予了背負故鄉榮辱的重任，不再只是被強徵的服役者。另一方面，軍隊駐紮與地方演習所帶動的經濟效應，使得地域振興，縮短了軍民之間的心理距離；而在霞浦等常態駐軍區域，軍人頻繁出入民間下宿、共享生活空間，甚至與在地農家通婚，更使軍隊從一個國家機構，融入地方社會的日常生活之中。

各地慰勞會的廣泛動員與軍隊地域化的深化，共同推動了日本近代民眾對「徵兵制」的意識轉變。原本在明治初期備受排斥的服兵役，在戰勝捷報、凱旋祝賀會及紀念碑建立的推波助瀾下，被重塑為至高無上的國民榮耀。軍歌歡唱與尚武風氣逐漸滲透地方日常，激發出高漲的「戰爭狂熱」。甚至在村落之間，為了展現地域榮譽而出現互相較勁、過度辦宴迎送的競爭現象。這套由地方主動發起、結合經濟與情感結節的後援機制，將國家的對外戰爭內化為村落共同體的集體事業，也成為日後軍國主義風潮的遠因。