The National Shrine Foundation Commemorative Medal (Japanese: Kenkoku Shinbyō Kinen Shō) stands as a tangible artifact of Japan’s policy of spiritual colonization in occupied northeast Asia during the Second World War. Established on November 25, 1940, by the government of Manchukuo, this decoration commemorated the formal inauguration of the National Shrine (Kenkoku Shinbyō), a Shinto temple that had been consecrated on July 15, 1940. The medal represents not merely a commemorative award but a physical embodiment of the complex interplay between military occupation, religious policy, and imperial legitimacy that characterized Japan’s rule over its continental puppet state.

Manchukuo — The Puppet State

Manchukuo was a puppet state established by the Japanese Empire in Manchuria, existing from March 1, 1932, to August 18, 1945. Its nominal ruler was Puyi, the last emperor of China’s Qing Dynasty, who served as a figurehead while real power rested with the Japanese military authorities. The Kwantung Army and its Special Service Bureau directed the state’s affairs, including cultural and religious policy. As early as 1935, the Special Service Bureau announced plans for the construction of a national shrine — a project that would take five years to realize and would become one of the most symbolically charged undertakings of the occupation.

In 1940, Puyi returned from a visit to Japan and declared Shinto the official state religion of Manchukuo. This declaration represented the culmination of years of cultural penetration and signaled the deepening integration of the puppet state into Japan’s spiritual orbit. The construction of the National Shrine and the issuance of this commemorative medal were central components of this campaign.

The National Shrine — Instrument of Spiritual Colonization

The Kenkoku Shinbyō was erected adjacent to the Imperial Palace in Hsinking (present-day Changchun), the capital of Manchukuo. The shrine was dedicated to the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu, Emperor Meiji, and Manchu ancestors. The inclusion of Amaterasu — the mythological progenitor of the Japanese imperial line — was of profound ideological significance, as it established a direct spiritual link between the occupied territory and the divine authority of the Japanese emperor.

The shrine’s construction was part of a far broader campaign. During the war years, the Japanese Army customarily erected Shinto shrines in newly conquered territories to symbolize the spread of imperial rule and to consolidate spiritual colonization alongside economic and military control. By 1945, approximately 345 Shinto shrines had been erected across Manchukuo. These structures served the dual purpose of promoting the ostensible “friendship” between Japan and Manchukuo while integrating Amaterasu worship — with its direct connection to Japanese imperial divinity — into the fabric of the occupied territory.

The Medal — Form and Design

The medal takes the form of a circular medal with suspension ring and ribbon, crafted from silver-plated bronze with a diameter of 30 mm. The obverse features a stylized representation of the shrine’s torii gate, flanked by traditional Japanese architectural elements — an appropriate design choice that places the shrine itself at the center of the commemorative imagery. The reverse bears inscriptions in Chinese characters indicating the date of the shrine’s inauguration and the medal’s issuance, rendered according to the Manchukuo Imperial calendar as the 7th year of the Kangde era, corresponding to 1940.

The medal was suspended from a silk ribbon featuring symmetrically arranged vertical red and white stripes. The original presentation case consisted of high-quality pressed cardboard with a yellow outer coating. The lid bore gold Chinese characters reading “National Shrine Foundation Commemorative Medal,” while the interior was lined with steel-blue felt containing a molded bed for the medal.

The decoration was issued in a single class. A women’s version also existed, though it is considered extremely rare and is poorly documented.

The Present Example

The specimen under consideration is in used condition with the ribbon missing. Despite this, it remains a significant collector’s piece that directly connects to one of the most deliberate campaigns of cultural imperialism conducted during the Second World War.

The Fall of Manchukuo and the Fate of the Shrine

The Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 brought about the swift collapse of Manchukuo on August 18, 1945. In accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the territory was returned to the Republic of China in 1946. Most Shinto shrines in the region — potent symbols of Japanese occupation — were destroyed by Chinese forces in the aftermath of the war. The Kenkoku Jinja itself was destroyed by the evacuating Japanese before Chinese forces arrived. Today, only the stone foundation of the shrine remains at the former imperial palace site in Changchun, a silent testament to a vanished regime and its imposed spiritual order.

Significance for Collectors

Medals from Manchukuo occupy a distinctive niche in the field of military and political decorations. They survive primarily in private collections and are regarded as significant historical artifacts reflecting Japanese expansionism and State Shinto policy in occupied territories. The National Shrine Foundation Commemorative Medal is particularly noteworthy because it stands at the intersection of military occupation, religious imperialism, and the fabrication of state legitimacy — making it not merely a decorative artifact but a document of one of the twentieth century’s most ambitious programs of cultural domination.