Order of the Rising Sun

The Order of the Rising Sun (旭日章, Kyokujitsu shō ? ) is a Japanese Order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun. The design of the Rising Sun symbolizes energy as powerful as the rising sun in parallel with the "rising sun" concept of Japan ("Land of the Rising Sun").

It is the second most prestigious Japanese decoration after the Order of the Chrysanthemum. The modern version of this honor has been conferred on non-Japanese recipients beginning in 1981 (although several foreigners were given the honor during the pre-World War II era); and women were awarded the Order starting in 2003 (previously, women were awarded the Order of the Precious Crown). The awarding of the Order is administered by the Decoration Bureau of Office of the Prime Minister. It is awarded in the name of the Emperor and can be awarded posthumously.

It can be awarded to Japanese as well as non-Japanese nationals.

Classes
The Order can be awarded in any of these eight classes. Conventionally, a diploma is prepared to accompany the insignia of the order, and in some rare instances, the personal signature of the emperor will have been added. As an illustration of the wording of the text, a translation of a representative 1929 diploma says:
 * "By the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial,


 * We confer the Second Class of the Imperial Order of Meiji upon Henry Waters Taft, a citizen of the United States of America and a director of the Japan Society of New York, and invest him with the insignia of the same class of the Order of the Double Rays of the Rising Sun, in expression of the good will which we entertain towards him.


 * "In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hand and caused the Grand Seal of the Empire to be affixed at the Imperial Palace, Tokio, this thirteenth day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Shōwa, corresponding to the 2,589th year from the accession to the throne of Emperor Jimmu."

The badge for the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon is a gilt cross with white enameled rays, bearing a central emblem of a red enameled sun disc surrounded by red rays, and with three paulownia blossoms between each arm of the cross. It is suspended from three enameled paulownia leaves on a sash in red with white border stripes, and is worn on the right shoulder.

The star for the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon is the same as the badge, but without the paulownia leaves suspension. It is worn on the left chest.

The badge for the First to Sixth Classes is an eight-pointed badge, in gilt (1st-4th Classes), gilt and silver (5th Class), or silver (6th Class), with white enamelled rays, bearing a central red enamelled sun disc. It is suspended from three enamelled paulownia leaves (not chrysanthemum as the Decoration Bureau page claims) on a ribbon in white with red border stripes, worn as a sash on the right shoulder for the 1st Class, as a necklet for the 2nd and 3rd Classes, on the left chest for the 4th to 6th Classes (with a rosette for the 4th Class).

The star for the First and Second Classes is an eight-pointed silver badge, bearing a central emblem identical to the 4th Class badge without the paulownia leaves suspension. It is worn on the left chest for the 1st Class, on the right chest for the 2nd Class.

The badge for the Seventh and Eighth Classes consists of just a silver medal in the shape of three paulownia leaves, enamelled for the 7th Class and plain for the 8th Class. It is suspended on a ribbon, again in white with red border stripes, worn on the left chest.



Selected recipients
''See also: Category:Order of the Rising Sun recipients ''

1st Class, Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon

 * Jackie Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher (1841-1920).
 * Prince Louis of Battenberg (1854-1921).
 * Prince Imperial Ui (1877-1955)
 * Wu, Prince of Korea (1912-1945)
 * Howard Baker, 2008.
 * Thomas Foley
 * Mike Mansfield (1903-2001)
 * Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.
 * Radhabinod Pal (1966)
 * Piłsudski, Józef (1867-1935).
 * Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922)

1st Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon

 * Edmund Allenby, 1921
 * Arthur Barrett,1921
 * Edmund Barton, 1905.
 * Carol Bellamy, 2006.
 * Burke, Arleigh (1901-1996).
 * Malcolm Fraser, 2006.
 * Masaru Ibuka (1908-1997)
 * Daniel Inouye, 2000
 * Henry Jackson (1855-1929).
 * Komura Jutarō (1855–1911)
 * Lee Kuan Yew, 1967.
 * John McEwen 1973.
 * LeMay, Curtis (1906-1990).
 * Robert Menzies (1894-1978).
 * Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller (1859-1941)
 * Peter Pace, 2007.
 * William Perry, 2002.
 * Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913).
 * Shoichiro Toyoda (1925-), 2002
 * John Whitehead, 2006.
 * Gough Whitlam, 2006.
 * Wangari Maathai, 2009.
 * Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, 2009.
 * Sepp Blatter, 2009.

2nd Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star

 * Louis Bols (1867-1930)
 * Gerald Curtis, 2005.
 * William Reginald Hall (1870-1943).
 * General Sir Hugh Jamieson Elles (1880-1945)
 * Lionel Halsey (1872-1946).
 * Cecil Lambert (1864-1928).
 * Donald Keene, 1993 (promoted from 3rd Class awarded in 1975)
 * Charles LeGendre (1830-1899).
 * Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928).
 * Jacob Schiff (1847-1920).
 * Henry W. Taft (1859-1945).
 * Frederick Charles Tudor Tudor (1863-1946).
 * Charles Vaughan-Lee (1867-1928).
 * Tadamichi Kuribayashi (1891-1945)
 * Arden L. Bement, Jr., 2009.

3rd Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon

 * Carol Gluck, 2006.
 * William Elliot Griffis (1843-1928).
 * John Charles Hoad (1856-1911).
 * Kano Jigoro (1860-1938).
 * Kusuma Karunaratne
 * Miles Wedderburn Lampson (1880-1964).
 * Fosco Maraini (1914-2004).
 * Peter Mathias, 2003
 * Ian Nish, 1991.
 * Robert Garfias, 2005.
 * Susan Pharr, 2008.
 * David Rowe-Beddoe, Baron Rowe-Beddoe, 2008
 * Patrick Lennox Tierney, 2007.
 * Royall Tyler, 2008.
 * Willy Vande Walle, 2006.
 * Jacob Raz, 2006.
 * Clint Eastwood, 2009.

4th Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette

 * Martha Argerich, 2005
 * Henry Pike Bowie (1848-1921).
 * William Elliot Griffis, 1907.
 * Keisuke Kinoshita (1912-1998).
 * Tommy Lasorda (2008)
 * Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928).
 * Frederik L. Schodt (2009).
 * George Takei (2004).
 * Masanobu Tsuji (1902-1961).
 * Tadashi Tamaki, (2007)
 * H. Paul Varley
 * Teruaki Yamagishi

5th Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays

 * Captain Charles Clifton, 1998.
 * Moazzem Hussain, 2004.
 * Rameshchandra R. Divekar, 2008
 * Momtazuddin Bhuiyan, 2008.

6th Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays

 * Henry Hajimu Fujii (1886-1976).

Class unknown
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