The ("Badge for Military Merit"), commonly called the Bukōshō, was a

military decoration Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. DoD Manual 1348.33, 2010, Vol. 3 A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medal ...

of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, established on 7 December 1944 by Imperial edict. It was awarded by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

(IJA) to living soldiers who had performed with exceptional valor in battle. Airmen, especially fighter pilots defending Japan against enemy bombers, were most likely to win the award. Eighty-nine ''Bukōshō'' were awarded during the eight months it was actively awarded.

Background

The

Order of the Golden Kite The was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan". It was officially abolished 1947 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during th ...

had served for decades as an auspicious military award of the Japanese armed forces, and was the only Japanese order that was solely awarded to the military (the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

and the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

could also be awarded to civilians). However, the process by which Order of the Golden Kite was awarded was very lengthy: it was indeed awarded to military men who had died in service, while the remainder were normally awarded only ''after'' the end of a war, for services throughout the conflict. As the Second World War dragged on, it became apparent that there was a need to promote morale among active army units by rewarding acts of valor more readily. To this end, the IJA suggested the ''Bukōchōshō'' as an alternate decoration for living recipients who had shown the highest valor in combat, to be awarded much more quickly by division commanders in the field. Emperor

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

established the award on 7 December 1944, the third anniversary of the attacks on

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, which had signaled the start of the broader

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

Award

The ''Bukōshō'' (as it was popularly known) was presented in two classes, called A and B, or First and Second. Loosely resembling the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

1st Class, the ''Bukōshō'' was a pin back badge, cast in iron or steel, featuring two shields (in gilt for A-Class, bronzed for B-Class) forming a cross, with a gilt banner at the center bearing the two

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters "Bukō" (Military Merit). The reverse side (again in gilt for A-Class, bronzed for B-Class) bore the six kanji characters in two columns "Rikugun/Bukōchōshō" (Army/Badge for Military Merit). Both classes were the same size: high and wide. The ''Bukōshō'' was allowed to be given retroactively to soldiers who had distinguished themselves as far back as 1941 or perhaps 1940. In practice, the award was given disproportionately to fighter pilots flying against the American

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

es bombing the Japanese homeland. The first three men to win the award were Toru Shinomiya, Masao Itagaki and Matsumi Nakano—pilots flying the

Kawasaki Ki-61 The Kawasaki Ki-61 ''Hien'' (飛燕, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (三式戦闘機). Allied intelligence initially b ...

''Hien'' fighter known by the Allies as the "Tony". On 3 December 1944, the three men were successful in very risky

aerial ramming Aerial ramming or air ramming is the ramming of one aircraft with another. It is a last-ditch tactic in air combat, sometimes used when all else has failed. Long before the invention of aircraft, ramming tactics in naval warfare and ground warfare ...

attacks. Another pilot, Masao Itagaki, successfully rammed B-29s on two occasions to earn two ''Bukōshō''. Unusually, the IJA awarded the ''Bukōshō'' to at least one aviator of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, for valiant action in the

Battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invas ...

on 19–20 June 1944.

Selected recipients

First or A-class

*Tadao Sumi, fighter pilot

Second or B-class

Isamu Kashiide was a Japanese army aviator and flying ace known for achieving the highest number of victories over Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. He claimed to have shot down 26 of the heavy bombers; 7 were later confirmed. Career Kashiide was born in February ...

, fighter pilot *Isamu Sasaki, fighter pilot

Unknown class

*Toru Shinomiya, fighter pilot *Masao Itagaki, fighter pilot *Matsumi Nakano, fighter pilot *Kuniyoshi Tanaka, fighter pilot *Satohide Kohatsu, fighter pilot * Yoshio Yoshida, fighter pilot *Tohru Shinomiya, fighter pilot *Sadamitsu Kimura, fighter pilot *Shigeyasu Miyamoto, fighter pilot *Kenji Fujimoto, fighter pilot *

Teruhiko Kobayashi Teruhiko Kobayashi (小林照彦, ''Kobayashi Teruhiko,'' 17 November 1920 – 4 June 1957) was a Japanese fighter pilot during World War II and a flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. He beg ...

, fighter pilot *Chuichi Ichikawa, fighter pilot *Takashi Nakai, fighter pilot *Tomojiro Ogawa, fighter pilot *

Makoto Ogawa is a Japanese singer and actress, best known as a former member of Japanese girl group Morning Musume. She joined the group in August 2001 along with fellow fifth generation members Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, and Asami Konno. On March 31, 20 ...

, fighter pilot *Yasushi Miyamotobayashi, fighter pilot *Isamu Hoya, fighter pilot *Yojiro Ohbusa, fighter pilot *Totaro Ito, fighter pilot *Koki Kawamoto, fighter pilot *Mitsuo Oyake, fighter pilot *Naoyuki Ogata, fighter pilot *Sergeant-Major Kobayashi,

Battle of Mindanao The Battle of Mindanao (Filipino: ''Labanan sa Mindanao;'' Cebuano: ''Gubat sa Mindanao;'' Japanese: ミンダナオの戦い) was fought by the Americans and allied Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese forces on the island of Mindanao in ...

*First Lieutenant Oki, Battle of Mindanao *Commander Terao Kisaemon, Battle of Mindanao

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukokisho Military awards and decorations of Japan Military of the Empire of Japan 1944 establishments in Japan Awards disestablished in 1945 Awards established in 1944