Order of the Paulownia Flowers

Order of the Paulownia Flowers 桐花章
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers
Awarded by the Emperor of Japan
Type	Order
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	His Imperial Majesty The Emperor
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	one class Grand Cordon
Established	1888
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the Chrysanthemum
Next (lower)	Order of the Rising Sun

The Order of the Paulownia Flowers (桐花章, Tōka shō^?) is an order presented by the Japanese Government. Established in 1888 during the Meiji Restoration as the highest award in the Order of the Rising Sun; however, since 2003 it has been an Order in its own right.^[1] The only grade of the order is Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers (旭日桐花大綬章, Kyokujitsu tōka daijushō^?), which ranks higher than the Order of the Rising Sun but lower than the Order of the Chrysanthemum.

The badge for the Order 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 is the same as the badge, but without the paulownia leaves suspension. It is worn on the left chest.

Selected recipients

See also: :Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• 2011 - Daniel Inouye, Toshiki Kaifu
• 2010 - Chikage Oogi, Niro Shimada, Tamisuke Watanuki
• 2008 - Walter Frederick Mondale, Howard Baker^[2]
• 2007 - Akira Machida, Shoichiro Toyoda^[3]
• 2006 - Tomiichi Murayama^[3]

• Radhabinod Pal (1966)
• Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935)
• Prince Imperial Ui (1877–1955)
• Wu, Prince of Korea (1912–1945)
• Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922)
• Matsushita Konosuke (1894–1989)^[4]
• Akira Machida^[3]
• Masaru Ibuka
• Kenzaburo Hara (legislator)

Notes

1. ^ Japan, Cabinet Office: Decoration Bureau
2. ^ Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "2008 Spring Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals," p. 4;"51 non-Japanese among 4,000 to receive decorations this spring." Japan Times. April 30, 2008.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Japanese Wikipedia
4. ^ Matsushita Memorial Library, Matsushita Konosuke

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

External links

• Japan, Cabinet Office: Decorations and Medals
  • Decoration Bureau: Order of the Paulownia Flowers
  • Decoration Bureau: Order of the Rising Sun
• Japan Mint: Production Process