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Circular bronze medal with leaf-shaped claw and laterally-pierced cylinder suspension; the face with the figure of an official of the Taika (Great Reform) era (AD 646) with a brush in his right hand, a rolled scroll in his left, standing before a table, all within a scalloped border representing the outline of a chrysanthemum crest; the reverse inscribed with characters meaning ‘Taishō 9th Year / National Census / Commemorative Medal / 10th Month, 1st Day’; on original ribbon and fittings; in wooden case of issue, now lacking lid. The medal was instituted by Imperial Edict on 17 June 1921 to acknowledge those who participated and assisted in the first national Japanese census that began on 1 October 1920. The significance of the Taika era figure is that in AD646 a number of reforms were instituted in Japan, including population registers. A good example.
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