20 year good service in transportation pin

[KeithL]

This pin is in a collection I have had for 25 years of WW2 Japanese items brought back from Japan at the end of the war. On the other side of the box it says in handwritten English "20 Years good service in transportation". I cannot translate the Japanese characters in the photo here, so I do not know if this is a good translation, but I think it is. I have not found another one like it online but I am wondering if anyone has seen one, or if it is particularly rare or valuable. Thanks for any information.

[Nick Komiya]

Official name is 日本国有鉄道功績章 Japan National Railways Merit Badge, given out for longtime service. Your box merely says badge, whereas they officially were to come in a lacquered box like the government orders. They were also given out for a long time after the war until the railways got privatized. Quite common and will range from $10-$40 in an auction.

[KeithL]

Wow, thanks so much for the help.

[Nick Komiya]

Might be that the one in the cardboard box is the lapel badge for the jacket, as this photo suggests.

[KeithL]

I think you are right. I could not enlarge your last picture to check, but mine is slightly different than the first one in the purple box.

[KeithL]

Here is the exact one that I have. Unfortunately I do not have the nice box. Looks like it might be pre-war.

[Nick Komiya]

That one in the silver-lettered case lid is in the issued form from between 1938 and 1943 (named Railroad Ministry Merit Badge), but that does not change the value. Like police and fire brigade badges or Rising Sun Orders, designs remained consistent before and after the war, and there is no collector emphasis on pre-war versions. More railroad memorabilia than militaria.

[KeithL]

I am not particularly concerned about the value, just wondering what the pin represented. It was with several WW2 Japanese commanders badges, pilots wings, collar badges, etc. All military and all WW2. I posted some pics of the rest in an album.

[Nick Komiya]

Just a railway official's long-time service badge, nothing to do with military service. Of course that could have represented his post military career, if all the badges supposedly came from the same individual.