Order Of The Precious Crown

Order of the Precious Crown
宝冠章
Order of the Precious Crown; 宝冠章 ;
	Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (1st class)
Awarded by the Emperor of Japan
Type	Order
Criteria	At the monarch's pleasure
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	HM The Emperor
Classes	1st through 8th Class
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the Paulownia Flowers
Next (lower)	Order of the Rising Sun; Order of the Sacred Treasure
	; ;

Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on April 13, 1896 the sixth, seventh and eighth classes were added.

Until 2003, the Order of the Precious Crown, which had eight ranks, was equivalent to the Order of the Rising Sun and was awarded as a women-only version of the Order of the Rising Sun. In 2003 the Order of the Rising Sun, previously reserved for males, was made available to women as well, and the lowest two classes of the Order of the Precious Crown were abolished. Since 2003, the Order of the Precious Crown has only been given to female members of the imperial family in Japan and female members of the royal family in foreign countries only when it is specifically necessary for diplomatic ceremonies.

Since 2003, the number representing rank included in the official name of the order was removed. As a result, although numbers representing ranks were sometimes used in common names, the formal names such as 勲一等 (Kun-ittō, First Class) and 勲二等 (Kun-nitō, Second Class) were no longer used.

In 1907, medals of the Order of the Crown were bestowed upon twenty-nine Americans who participated in the Russo-Japanese War. This unusual list of honorees was composed of ten women volunteer nurses and nineteen correspondents of American newspapers.

Classes

The first class honour has been typically conferred to female royalty. As originally conceived, the order consisted of eight classes. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously.

The badge of the order is a gold oval medallion, with floral designs at its four ends; at the centre is an ancient Japanese crown on a blue background, surrounded by a red ring. It is suspended from a smaller badge, its design varies according to class, on a ribbon in yellow with red stripes near the borders, as a sash on the right shoulder for the 1st class, as a bow on the left shoulder for the other classes.

The star of the order, which is worn only by the first class, has five rays studded with pearls, with floral designs between the rays. The central disc features a Ho-o or phoenix on a blue background, surrounded by a red ring emblazoned with a laurel wreath.

The medal for the 6th and 7th classes are golden bronze. The face presents the crossed flags of Japan and the Emperor, both of which are surmounted by the Rising Sun. The obverse presents a conventional monumental shaft, which is flanked by a branch of laurel and a branch of palm.

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (1st class)
The Order of the Precious Crown, Peony (2nd class)
The Order of the Precious Crown, Butterfly (3rd class)
The Order of the Precious Crown, Wistaria (4th class)
The Order of the Precious Crown, Apricot (5th class)
The Order of the Precious Crown, Ripple (6th class)
7th Class (Abolished in 2003)
8th Class (Abolished in 2003)

Ribbon bars
Grand Cordon, Paulownia	Second Class, Peony	Third Class, Butterfly	Fourth Class, Wisteria
Fifth Class, Apricot	Sixth Class, Ripples	Seventh Class, Medal (abolished 2003)	Eighth Class, Medal (abolished 2003)

Selected recipients

First Class, Grand Cordon

Second Class

Third Class

Joyce Ackroyd, 1918–1991
Eleanor Jorden, 1920–2009
Elizabeth Gray Vining, 1902–1999
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878–1972, Honor conferred 1968
Yoshi Kasuya, 1894–1994
Chika Kuroda, 1884–1968
Sugino Yoshiko, 1892-1978
Kono Yasui, 1880–1971
Toshiko Yuasa, 1909–1980

Fourth Class

Michiyo Tsujimura (1888-1969)
Yvette Giraud (1916-2014)
Machiko Hasegawa (1920–1992)
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (1926–2014)

Fifth Class

Fujima Kansuma (1918-2023)

Sixth Class

Anita Newcomb McGee,(1864–1940)
Fumiko Kouka Mikami, (1913-2019)

Seventh Class

William H. Brill, (1871–1923), Associated Press and Reuter's Telegram Company
Richard Harding Davis, (1864–1916) Collier's Weekly
John Fox, Jr., (1862–1919) Scribner's Magazine
George Kennan, (1845–1924) The Outlook
Jack London, (1876–1916) Hearst papers.
Frederick Palmer, (1873–1958) Collier's Weekly
Herbert Ponting, photographer and journalist, (1870–1935), Harper's Weekly
James Ricalton, (c. 1844 – 1929) Travel Magazine
Grant Wallace, (1867–1954) San Francisco Bulletin
Niijima Yae, (1845–1932)

Notes

References

Peterson, James W., Barry C. Weaver and Michael A. Quigley. (2001). Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States. San Ramon, California: Orders and Medals Society of America. ISBN 1-890974-09-9
Roth, Mitchel P. and James Stuart Olson. (1997). Historical Dictionary of War Journalism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29171-5

External links

Japan, Cabinet Office: Order of the Precious Crown
Japan Mint

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