Japanese text in two lines. Including Date: Meiji 21 (1888) which all of these silver Red Cross medals made until 1941 are dated.

This is a regular membership medal. Medals made before 1941 were made out of sterling silver but aluminium was used for later issues. Red Cross medals regardless of date of issue are dated Meiji 21 [1888].

Composition: silver (0.925)

Weight: 12 g

Footnote: The forerunner of the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Hakuaisha (Philanthropic Society) was founded in 1877 by Court Tsunetami Sano, to help those who were wounded in the Satsuma Rebellion earlier that year. Japan signed the Geneva Convention in 1886 and in the following year, the Hakuaisha changed its name to the Japanese Red Cross Society (Nippon Sekijujisha). It was recognized as such by the International Committee on the Red Cross on September 2, 1887. The medal was established in 1888 and comes in five classes: Member, Special Member, Life Member, Golden Special Member and Honorary Member.