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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Medals for Nagano Winter Olympic Games
The Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for the Nagano Olympic Games will use
lacquerware from the Kiso region to express the "Colors of Nagano" and the
prefecture's precision metal processing technology will be used to carve the
medals. Cloisonne ("Shippoyaki") is used to express the Olympic emblem.
This is the first time that this type of multi-color medal has been used in
the history of the Olympic Games. [Photo]
All the medals are 8 cm in diameter, and about 1 cm thick. The outer frame of the Gold medal is made of pure silver plated with 6g of gold, pure silver is used for the Silver medal's frame, and "tando" (a type of galvanized copper) is used for the Bronze medal's frame. The heaviest medal is the Gold medal weighing 256 g.
The lacquerware part which depicts Nagano mountains will be created by the Kiso Region Local Industry Development Center in Narakawa-mura, Kiso. The pictogram on the back of the medal (a drawing showing the type of event) will be imprinted by Seiko Epson Corp., located in Suwa City. There will be 150 each of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals created, along with 50 medals for reserve, or a total of 500 metals. (originally run November 22, 1996)
No part of the article, photographs, or illustrations presented here may be printed or used without permission.
Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun