Orders, decorations, and medals of Japan

The Japanese honours system is a system implemented for rewarding awards to Japanese and non-Japanese persons for their achievements and service to Japan. The Emperor is the head of the honors system in Japan.
Established during the 1870s shortly after the Meiji Restoration, it was modelled on European systems of orders and decorations. The first order, the Imperial Order of Meiji, was established in 1875, and was later renamed as the Order of the Rising Sun.
Orders and decorations in Japan consist of the conferral of honours and awards, medals, and titles (the latter abolished in 1947), which were established during the Meiji period as a system for the state to recognise individuals' achievements.
The Decoration Bureau of the Cabinet Office is responsible for administrative duties relating to the conferment of awards, research on the honours system, and planning. The awarding of honours is one of the prescribed constitutional functions of the Emperor of Japan, with the advice of the Cabinet.
Since 2003, the Government of Japan through the Decoration Bureau uses a recommendation system in members of the public can recommend candidates for the honours.
Established in 1876, this is the premier order of Japan, originally in one class (Grand Cordon) and expanded to two classes (Collar; Grand Cordon) in 1888.
Established in 1888 as a Special Grand Cordon to the Order of the Rising Sun, it was later made a separate order in 2003. Ordinarily the highest regularly awarded honour, it is conferred in a single class (Grand Cordon); typically awarded to Japanese prime ministers, senior statesmen, select foreign heads of government, distinguished cabinet ministers and jurists. Until 1947, it was also awarded to distinguished military officers of the rank of General or higher, or its equivalents.
The order was established in 1875 as Japan's first order. Awarded in nine classes prior to 2003: The Grand Cordon of the order is typically awarded to foreign heads of government, chairpersons of prominent international organizations and leading politicians, business leaders and diplomats. The second class is typically conferred upon prominent academics, politicians and military officers. The third through sixth classes are ordinarily conferred upon individuals who have made significant contributions to Japan in varying degrees. The 7th and 8th classes of the Order were abolished in 2003, and the Special First Class of the Order was renamed the Order of the Paulownia Flowers.
This order was established in 1888 as the Imperial Order of Meiji in eight classes. Since the revision of the honours system in 2003, the Order of the Sacred Treasure has been awarded to civil servants for their long-term contributions. They include government and local officials, military personnel, scholars of national universities, and school teachers. For example, from 2014, the former Chief of Staff, Joint Staff is awarded Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure at the age of 70. The 7th and 8th classes were abolished in 2003.
Established in 1937, this is a single-class order of merit to honour those who have made outstanding contributions to Japanese culture. Japanese Nobel Laureates are awarded the Order of Culture.
Established in 1888 in five classes, the order expanded to seven classes in 1896. The 7th class of the order was abolished sometime after the Second World War. It was initially awarded to select foreigners who were not eligible for a higher honour but subsequently awarded to only women. From 2003, with the opening of the Order of the Rising Sun to Japanese women, the order has been awarded to only foreign females.
Established in 1881, the Medals of Honour honour individuals who have made distinguished achievements in their respective fields of society. The different medal categories can be seen below.
The current types of Japanese orders, their classes and medals can be seen below.
In addition to the decorations, the recipient to one of the orders is also awarded a decoration diploma. The diploma is a certificate bearing the name of the recipient, the name of the order awarded, the date of the award, the name of the awarding authority, etc., along with the State Seal of Japan. The text and content of the diploma according to the type of decoration. All the text in the diplomas is written vertically.
In cases where signature of the Emperor and State Seal is affixed at a location other than the Tokyo Imperial Palace, e.g., Akasaka Palace, the diplomas will reflect the change and use "Akasaka Palace" instead.
The National Printing Bureau, an independent administrative agency of the Government of Japan, handles papermaking and printing of the diplomas for the decoration. In addition to the text, signature, Imperial Seal, and State Seal mentioned above, the design of the awarded order is imprinted on the medal. This model is printed using the decalcomania technique. In this technique, a skilled craftsman manually adds colours to the transfer paper one by one, which takes several days. In addition, a chrysanthemum crest is printed just above the centre of the medal. This chrysanthemum crest was also created by applying pure gold powder after gold under-printing, and then performing blank pressing (embossing).
In order for Japanese nationals to be awarded, they must meet certain criteria specified by the Government of Japan.
As of November 2024, a total of 174,842 orders have been conferred upon living Japanese nationals since 2003, when the honours system was overhauled. These include 21 awards of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, 40,232 awards of the Order of the Rising Sun and 134,589 awards of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. Of those decorations, the Order of the Sacred Treasure (76.98% of the total, all classes) is the most commonly conferred decoration, followed by the Order of the Rising Sun (23.01% of the total, all classes). The Order of the Paulownia Flowers is conferred the most rarely, at only 0.12% of the total number of decorations awarded since 2003.
Per class of decoration, excluding the Order of the Chrysanthemum, the breakdown of decorations awarded by level since 2003 is as follows:
Since 2003, the most commonly conferred decorations by class and level in the top five categories have been:
For the year 2024, 8,093 decorations were conferred in the following numbers upon living Japanese:
In the system before the 2003 revision, titles consisted of two parts, the class number (kuntō [ja]) and the decoration. For example:
although their official English translations did not have these class numbers. The 2003 revision removed the class part from the titles, thus: