Order of the Sacred Treasure

The Order of the Sacred Treasure (瑞宝章) is a Japanese Order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest two medals being abolished that year. It is awarded to those who have made distinguished achievements in research fields, business industries, healthcare, social work, state/local government fields or the improvement of life for handicapped/impaired persons.

Originally a male-only decoration, the order has been made available to women since 1919; it is awarded for both civil and military merit, though of a lesser degree than that required for the conferment of the Order of the Rising Sun. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously.

Classes
The Order can be awarded in any of six 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."

Insignia
The insignia of the order incorporates symbols for the three imperial treasures: the Yata Mirror, so sacred that not even the Emperor is allowed to look at it; the Yasakani Jewel, which is made of the finest jade; and the Emperor's personal Sword.

The star for the Grand Cordon and Second Class is similar to the badge as described above, but effectively with two sets of Maltese crosses, one in gilt and one placed diagonally in silver. It is worn on the left chest by the Grand Cordon, on the right chest (without any other insignia) by the 2nd class.

The badge for the first through sixth classes is a Maltese cross, in gilt (1st-4th classes), gilt and silver (5th class) and silver (6th class), with white enameled rays (representing the sword). The central disc is blue, bearing an eight-pointed silver star (representing the mirror), surrounded by a wreath with red-enameled dots (representing the jewel). The badge is suspended on a ribbon in light blue with a gold stripe near the border, worn as a sash on the right shoulder by the Grand Cordon, as a necklet by males of the 2nd and 3rd classes, on the left chest (the ribbon folded into a triangle) by the 4th to 6th classes (with a rosette for the 4th class). For females of the 2nd to 6th classes, the ribbon is a bow worn on the left shoulder (with a rosette for the 4th class).

Until 2003, when it was abolished, the badge of the seventh and eighth classes was an eight-pointed silver medal, partially gilded for the 7th class, with representations of just the mirror and the jewel. The badge is suspended on a white ribbon with a gold stripe near the border, worn by men on the left chest (the ribbon folded into a triangle). For women, the ribbon is a bow worn on the left shoulder.

Until 2003, the ribbon of the order was white with two gold stripes near the borders; since then the ribbon has been light blue, but retains two gold stripes near the borders. The ribbon for the Fourth Class and above incorporates a blue-and-gold rosette (silver until 2003), with a solid gold bar for the Grand Cordon, a gold and silver bar for the Second Class, a solid silver bar for the Third Class and only the rosette for the Fourth Class. The ribbon for the Fifth and Sixth Classes has a centered blue disc (silver until 2003) with gold rays radiating from its center, eight rays for the Fifth Class and six rays for the Sixth Class. Formerly, the ribbon for the Seventh and Eighth Classes had a centered silver disc with gold rays radiating from its center, four rays for the Seventh Class and three rays for the Eighth Class.

After the 2003 reform
In 2003 the lowest two classes of the Order were abolished. Moreover, the badges of the Order will from now on be suspended from three white-enamelled paulownia leaves (not chrysanthemum leaves as the Decoration Bureau page claims).

1st class, Grand Cordon

 * Otto Abetz
 * Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, awarded 1981
 * Emilio Álvarez Montalván, awarded 2003
 * Daniel Boorstin, awarded 1986
 * Avery Brundage
 * Sir Hugh Cortazzi, awarded 1995
 * Takuma Dan, awarded 1932
 * Henry Willard Denison
 * Milton Friedman
 * Daniel Hays, awarded 2000
 * Norio Ohga, awarded 2001
 * James McNaughton Hester, awarded 1981


 * Masaru Ibuka (1908–1997)
 * Umezawa Michiharu, awarded 1914
 * Kokichi Mikimoto, awarded 1954
 * Akio Morita, awarded 1991
 * Nakamura Utaemon VI, awarded 1996
 * Henry Francis Oliver (1865–1965), awarded 1917
 * Radhabinod Pal, awarded 1966
 * Peter Parker, awarded 1991
 * Sir Julian Ridsdale (1915–2004), awarded 1967 and 1990
 * Shoichiro Toyoda, awarded 1995
 * Hugh Trenchard, awarded 1921

2nd class, Gold and Silver Star

 * Dr. Hans Hermann Baerwald, awarded 1989
 * Shahin Lauritzen, awarded 1999
 * Herbert W. Armstrong (1892–1986)
 * James Molesworth Blair
 * W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993), awarded 1960
 * James Harold Elmsley (1859–1921)
 * Bonner Fellers, awarded 1971
 * Fr. Hermann Heuvers S.J., awarded 1969
 * Kaoru Ishikawa (1915–1989)
 * Ted Fujita (1920–1998)


 * Joseph M. Juran (1904–2008)
 * Bernard Leach (1887–1979)
 * Yuet Keung Kan (1913–2012), awarded 1983
 * Richard W. Pound, awarded 1998
 * Johannis de Rijke, awarded 1903
 * Sakıp Sabancı (1993–2004), awarded 1992
 * Jacob Schiff (1847–1920), awarded 1905
 * Henry W. Taft (1859–1945)
 * Ichimatsu Tanaka (1895–1983)
 * Akira Toriyama (1898–1994), awarded 1971
 * Eugene P. Wilkinson

3rd class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon

 * Rt Rev Herbert Welch (1862-1969), awarded 1928
 * Col. Fred Grant Swafford (1924-1996), awarded 1972
 * Col. William F. Hebert (1928-2008), awarded 1970
 * Frank Shozo Baba (1915–2008)
 * George Bull (1929–2001)
 * Bunei Tsunoda (1913–2008)
 * Edoardo Chiossone (1833–98)
 * Robert Günther, awarded 1929
 * Samuel Hill, 1922
 * Frederick J. Horne, awarded 1919
 * Akira Ifukube (1914–2006)
 * Gheorghe Bagulescu (1886–1963)
 * Miles Wedderburn Lampson (1880–1964), awarded 1932
 * Trevor Leggett (1914–2000)
 * Stuart D. B. Picken, 2007
 * Masao Maruyama (1914–1996), awarded 1976
 * Genzō Murakami, awarded 1981
 * Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988), awarded 1988


 * Delmer Myers Brown (1909–2011), awarded 1997
 * Colonel Vernon J Henderson (USAF) (1922–2008), awarded 1970
 * John Curtis Perry, awarded 1991.
 * Thomas Noguchi, awarded 1999
 * Leonard Pronko, awarded 1986
 * Eric Gascoigne Robinson (1882–1965)
 * Tadahiro Sekimoto (1926–2007)
 * Herbert Cyril Thacker (1870–1953)
 * Charles E. Tuttle (1915–1993), awarded 1983
 * Masanobu Tsuji (1902–1961), awarded 1942
 * Takeo Uesugi, awarded 2010
 * Arthur Young (1907–1979)
 * Elizabeth Gray Vining (1902–1999), awarded 1950
 * Toshiro Mifune, awarded 1993
 * Günther Gumprich
 * Captain Arthur Hawkins (USN)
 * Akira Suzuki, awarded 2005
 * Hiroko Sho, awarded 2006

4th class, Gold Rays with Rosette

 * Keiko Fukuda, awarded 1990
 * Beate Sirota Gordon, awarded 1998
 * Herbert Keppler, awarded 2002
 * Helmut Laumer, awarded 2002
 * Hidetaka Nishiyama, 2000, awarded 2000
 * Junnosuke Ofusa (1908–1994), awarded 1982
 * Agnes Mitsue Niyekawa (1924–2012), awarded 1998
 * Chōshin Chibana, awarded 1968
 * Richard Ponsonby-Fane (1878–1937), awarded 1921


 * Shozo Sato, awarded 2004
 * Oskar Ritter und Edler von Xylander
 * Serizawa Keisuke (1895–1984)
 * Ir Sukarno (1901–1970)
 * Thomas Masuda (1906–1986)
 * Masaru Funai, awarded 2001
 * Masao Takahashi, awarded 2002
 * Rev. Jean-Baptist Gaschy (1875–1955), awarded 1954
 * Mildred Ruth Brown, awarded 1988
 * Dr. Andrew Tsubaki (1931–2009), awarded 2007

5th class, Gold and Silver Rays

 * George Edward Luckman Gauntlett (1868–1956)
 * Friedrich Hirzebruch, awarded 1996
 * Chiura Obata (1885–1975)
 * Yoshio Tamiya (1905–1988), awarded 1976


 * Thomas Masuda (1906–1986)
 * John Mittwer (1907–1996), awarded 1977
 * Alfred M Burke, awarded 2012
 * Dr. Yosh Senda (1922–2009)
 * Fujitaro Kubota (1879–1973)

6th class, Silver Rays

 * Chozaburo Kusumoto, 1906

General Class

 * Jackson Bailey, awarded 1988
 * Faubion Bowers
 * Ernesto Burzagli (1873–1944), awarded 1906
 * Winfield Scott Chaplin (1847–1918), awarded 1882
 * George Ramsay Cook, awarded 1994
 * David Culver
 * Dorothy DeLay
 * Mamadou Diarra, awarded 1988 (Order with sunburst)
 * Robert Lawrence Eichelberger
 * Yoshikawa Eiji, awarded 1962
 * Anton Geesink
 * John Whitney Hall
 * Heinrich Hertz
 * Marcel Junod, awarded 1961
 * Takahira Kogoro (1854–1926)
 * Kume Kunitake, awarded 1889
 * Tokubei Kuroda (1886–1987), awarded 1939


 * Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, awarded 2003
 * Toshirō Mifune, awarded 1993 (Order with gold ribbon)
 * Lawrence Olson, awarded 1987
 * Fusakichi Omori, awarded 1928
 * Jean-Jacques Origas, awarded 1998
 * John Roderick, awarded 1985
 * Renato Ruggiero
 * Jack Seaward, awarded 1986
 * Edmund Charles Wyldbore Smith (1877–1938)
 * Kenjiro Takayanagi, awarded 1989
 * Eiji Tsuburaya, awarded 1970
 * Yosh Uchida, awarded 1986.
 * Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969)
 * J.R. Wasson (1855–1913), awarded 1874