- Time Period: Second World War
- Year of Institution: 9 June 1945
- Country: Russia & USSR
The Medal for the Victory over Japan (or Медаль «За победу над Японией», Medal «Za pobedu nad Japoniej» in Russian) was established on 30 September 1945 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and awarded to Soviet service personnel of the 1st and 2nd Far East Trans-Baikal Fronts, Pacific Fleet and Amur River Flotilla who were active between 8 August and 23 August 1945.
The medal was awarded to all military personnel and members of the civilian staff of the units and formations of the Red Army, Navy, and troops of the NKVD, who took a direct part in hostilities against the Japanese imperialists in the Far East as part of the 1st or 2nd Far Eastern or Transbaikal Fronts, the Pacific Fleet or Amur River Flotilla; to military personnel of the central offices of the People’s Commissariat for Defense, the People’s Commissariat of the Navy of the USSR and the NKVD, who took part in planning the operations of Soviet troops in the Far East.
Award of the medal was made on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the basis of documents attesting to actual participation in combat operations against Japan issued by unit commanders or the chief of a military medical establishment.
The Medal for the Victory over Japan Design
The medal was 32mm in diameter, circular, and made of brass, with a raised rim on both sides. It was worn on the left side of the chest and in the presence of other awards of the USSR.
On its pebbled obverse, the left-facing bust of Joseph Stalin is surrounded on the sides and top by the relief inscription along the medal’s circumference «ЗА ПОБЕДУ НАД ЯПОНИЕЙ» (“FOR THE VICTORY OVER JAPAN”). On the reverse, at the top, a plain five-pointed star, under the star, the inscription on three rows «3 СЕНТЯБРЯ 1945» (“3 SEPTEMBER 1945”).
The medal was secured by a ring through the medal suspension loop to a standard Soviet pentagonal mount covered by a 24mm wide silk moiré ribbon composed of a central 6mm red stripe bordered by 3.5mm white stripes, 2mm red stripes, 1mm white stripe, then 2.5mm yellow edge stripes.
