"Over 1 Million Won"... Japanese Lawmakers to Change Badge Material Due to Rising Gold Prices

Shizuoka Prefecture Saves Assembly Expenses by Switching to Gold-Plated Badges

Korea Adopted Gold-Plated Badges Starting with the 11th National Assembly

Local assembly members in Japan are changing the material of their badges due to rising gold prices.

Gold badge for Japanese local assembly. Yahoo Japan Auction screenshot

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on April 19, ahead of next year's local elections, 11 prefectural assemblies, including Nara and Fukuoka, have decided to replace the gold trim on members' badges with more affordable materials such as silver or gold plating. It was also reported that 20 out of the 47 prefectures and metropolitan governments nationwide—equivalent to 40%—are considering changing from gold to other materials.

The price of gold has risen significantly since the last Japanese local elections in 2023, making the cost of producing a gold badge, previously around 30,000 yen (about 270,000 won) each, now more than three times higher. For example, Wakayama Prefecture, which held a by-election last month, spent 165,000 yen (about 1,520,000 won) to produce a single 14K gold badge with 58.5% pure gold content.

Shizuoka Prefecture has decided to switch from 14K gold to plated badges starting next spring. As a result, the cost of producing badges will drop to one-sixth of the previous amount, saving approximately 5 million yen (about 46 million won) in assembly expenses.

Meanwhile, in Korea, when the gold badge system was introduced in the 1950s, badges were made of pure gold. However, due to criticism over excessive privilege and budget waste, the 11th National Assembly in 1981 switched to producing plated badges. The badges for members of the National Assembly are now made from 6 grams of pure silver with a diameter of 1.6cm and are plated with 0.2 grams of gold, with one badge provided free of charge to each elected member.

From the 15th to the 20th National Assembly, men's badges were screw-back types and women's were pin-back, but starting with the 21st National Assembly, magnetic gold badges have been used. The price of one gold badge is reported to be 35,000 won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.