Japan, Occupied Manchukuo. A Border Incident War Medal, c.1940

Instituted in 1940. In bronze gilt, measuring 30.2 mm in diameter, spotting, light contact, lightly soiled original ribbon with hook and eye, better than very fine.

Footnote: The medal was instituted in 1940 and commemorates the Nomonhan Incident, a clash with Russia that happened in Manchuria. The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet-Japanese border conflicts fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol,which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident after a nearby villageon the border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army, which incurred 18,000 casualties in the process.