The 1874 Formosa Expedition War Medal

• Time Period: Pre-WW1
• Institution: 1874
• Country: Japan

The 1874 Formosa Expedition War Medal was established by Daijou-kan Law #54 on April 10, Meiji 8 [1875]. Revised (Law #141) on November 15, 1876.

The Japanese expedition of 1874 to Taiwan Province, also referred to as the Taiwan Expedition of 1874, was in response to the Mudan Incident of 1871. Fifty-four shipwrecked Ryukyuan sailors were killed by Paiwan aborigines in December 1871 in southern Taiwan. In seeking restitution from Qing China, Japan reached an impasse when the Chinese claimed that they were not responsible for the actions of the aborigines in territory that was nominally under Chinese sovereignty.

The Japanese government sent an expedition of 3,600 soldiers led by Saigō Tsugumichi in May 1874. The Japanese won a decisive victory at the Battle of Stone Gate on 22 May 1874. Thirty aborigines were either killed or mortally wounded in the battle, and a great number wounded. Japanese casualties were six killed and thirty wounded.

In November 1874 the Japanese forces withdrew from Taiwan after the Qing government agreed to an indemnity of 500,000 Kuping taels.

The Military Medal of Honor (or 従軍記章 jugun kisho in Japanese) was a military decoration for meritorious service to the Empire of Japan, formerly awarded to all military personnel who participated in battles in a war and effectively abolished during the Allied Occupation of Japan in the post-war years (1945–1951).

The plausible re-institution of a modern equivalent was made unlikely by the adoption of Japan’s post-war Constitution which disavows the right of the state to engage in aggressive war.

The 1874 Formosa Expedition War Medal Design

The obverse of the medal bears branches of Imperial Paulonia Leaves. Inscribed ‘War Medal.’ The reverse is inscribed ‘Meiji 7 [1874] Year of the Dog.’ The latter refers to the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle.