Japanese Army Technical Badge
陸軍技術徽章
This badge was awarded to people who developed or invented military armaments or other things related to the
military. It is a thick, heavy badge and it has a pure silver mark at the bottom, which means that this was a
special award. Although other badges were made with pure silver, this badge was established in 1941 when
metal was at a premium in Japan.
Each badge is stamped with a number on the reverse, which probably corresponds to the entry in the ledger roll
that show who received the badges. Other medal ledger rolls were destroyed in the firebombings of WW2, so it
is possible that these rolls did not survive.
The Japanese title of the badge is Rikugun Gijutsu Kishou, which translates into Army Technical Badge. Some
sources call this the Army Technical Merit Badge, but the word 'merit' is not to be found on the case nor on the
badge.
Peterson makes a couple of errors in his description of the badge (see page 108 of his book). First, and most
obvious, is that the photo is upside-down. Second, he states that there are two kanji at the top when obviously
there is only one: It is the GI in Gijutsu (technical).
Established on Showa 16 [1941] August 18th.
