The Post-2003 Reform Order of the Rising Sun

[TracA]

Greetings,

 

I thought that it would be time to start a general thread about the Post 2003 Order of the Rising Suns, a “companion” to my thread here on GMIC about Post 2003 Order of the Sacred Treasures (see https://gmic.co.uk/topic/81482-the-post-2003-reform-order-of-the-sacred-treasure/#comment-723971). 

 

For some generalized information see the above referenced thread. Note that when he authored his article for OMSA, Nyle Monday did not have access to actual examples of the orders about which he was writing; he was referencing pictures found at the time on the relevant pages of the Japanese Cabinet Office’s website, and those pictures were only of the obverses. Therefore, at the time he was unaware that the reverse of the revised Orders of the Rising Sun were quite different from their pre-2003 predecessors. 

 

For now I only possess the lowest two post-2003 Rising Suns. I must admit that I do not find these on the market very often, but I am always on the lookout.

 

I hope that you enjoy this for now relatively brief thread.

 

All the best,

 

Tracy

 

The Order of the Rising Sun Silver Rays is the post-2003 reform version of the former 6th Class. The ribbon is approximately 35 mm wide with a 20 mm white stripe between two 8 mm red striped edges. The dimensions and configuration of the ribbon are the same as the former 6th Class. 

 

The obverse design of the Silver Rays is generally the same as the former 6th Class (color of enameling; all metal, including leaf veins, in silver) with the exception of the piece attaching the badge to the ribbon ring. That piece is no longer a ball or knob. Rather, it is a disc that has a larger diameter than its thickness. The order itself measures approximately 39 mm wide by 59 mm long (from the longest point of the 6h ray to the top of the 12h paulownia flower) by 2 mm thick. A feature that the Silver Rays shares with, and retains from, late Showa/early Heisei pre-2003 reform orders is a higher “standing” red cabochon “sun”. See Medals of Asia at https://asiamedals.info/threads/6th-class-rising-sun-order-awarded-in-1995.27419/.

 

The reverse of the Silver Rays is quite different from the former 6th Class. It is no longer an enameled mirror of the obverse, with the “Order of Merit” seal characters on the reverse of the paulownia leaves. Rather, the reverse is pebbled silver with no enameling and no red sun cabochon, but the “rays out from the center” design is retained. The reverse of the paulownia leaves and flowers are now simply flat and featureless. The seal characters are no longer on the reverse of the paulownia leaves, they are now located where the red sun cabochon was located on the pre-2003 orders.

 

Finally, I would like to note another major difference as well as a similarity between the Silver Rays and its former 6th Class counterpart. The former 5th and 6th Classes shared the same exact dimensions, the only distinguishing feature was gilt metal on the former and silver metal on the later. Over time tarnishing would eradicate the gilt vs. silver difference, making it next to impossible to distinguish the 5th Class from the 6th Class simply by looking at the obverse. So, in about 1938 or 1940 there was a design change to the 6th Class: the short rays were shortened even more, thereby resulting in an observable difference in the shapes of the 5th and 6th Classes. A major difference between the Silver Rays and the former 6th Class: the Silver Rays now has smaller dimensions than the Gold and Silver Rays. A similarity between the Silver Rays and the former 6th Class: the Silver Rays retains the “shorter short rays” design of the post-1938 or 1940 former 6th Class. 

 

Silver Rays obverse and rosette:

 

 

Silver Rays reverse, on which there is a ZF hallmark at the 6h. The hallmark is so lightly impressed that I cannot get a picture of it with my cell phone, although it shows up below as a very slight imperfection.

 

 

Silver Rays case lid. The stylization of the kanji is certainly different from that for the pre-2003 reform orders, but it is no less appealing.

 

Edited Saturday at 20:46 by TracA
word addition; spacing; thickness

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

Here is my "Order of the Rising Sun Silver Rays" CX hallmark.

 

 

 

 

Now for comparison between an Order of the Rising Sun, Sixth Class and an Order of the Rising Sun Silver Rays:

 

 

 

 

 

The first thing you notice with the case is that there is no more class, just the name of the order.

 

Here for comparison:

 

 

And now it's also attributed to women.

 

 

This reform was quite democratic, almost revolutionnary, no more classes and open to women!

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[TracA]

Thank you, No One, for contributing the additional important information and very illustrative pictures. Indeed, in his OMSA article Nyle Monday briefly refers to some of these points.

 

There is an article about the call for reform in the English language Japan Times, dating from January 11, 2000. Unfortunately it is behind a paywall of at least $30 for an unlimited, monthly subscription. I have to admit that I have been unwilling to pony up the $30 for the ability to read this single article.

 

All the best,

 

Tracy

[TracA]

Next up for me is the only other Post 2003 Reform Order of the Rising Sun currently in my possession: a Gold and Silver Rays, formerly the 5th Class.

 

Just like its pre-2003 counterpart and the post-2003 Silver Rays, the Gold and Silver Rays has a ribbon that is approximately 35 mm wide with a 20 mm white stripe between two 8 mm red striped edges.

 

Compared to the former 5th Class, the Gold and Silver Rays generally has the same obverse design: enamel coloring; all metal, including leaf veins, in gilt with the exception of the three longest rays between the 12h, 3h, 6h, and 9h, which are in silver. One exception is the piece attaching the badge to the ribbon ring. That piece is no longer a ball or knob, it is a disc the diameter of which is larger than its thickness. The dimensions between the Gold and Silver Rays and the former 5th Class are also the same with the exception of the thickness. Both are approximately 45 mm wide by 67 mm long (from the longest point of 6h ray to the top of the 12h paulownia flower) but the Gold and Silver Rays is approximately 2 mm thick while the former 5th Class is approximately 1 mm thick. As with the Silver Rays, a feature that the Gold and Silver Rays shares with, and retains from, late Showa/early Heisei pre-2003 reform orders is a higher “standing” red cabochon “sun”. See the Medals of Asia link above in my first post.

 

As with the Silver Rays, the Gold and Silver Rays’ reverse is different from the former 5th Class. No longer is the reverse an enameled mirror of the obverse, with the “Order of Merit” seal characters on the reverse of the paulownia leaves. Instead, the reverse is pebbled silver with no enameling and no red sun cabochon. The “rays out from the center” design, however, is retained in a raised outline. The reverse of the paulownia leaves and flowers are flat and featureless. Thus, the seal characters are now located where the red sun cabochon was located on the pre-2003 orders.

 

Given the different dimensions between the Gold and Silver Rays and the Silver Rays, the fact that neither of the items in my possession are tarnished, and the fact that the Silver Rays has the shorter short rays design, the contrast between the two side-by-side is obvious.

 

All the best,

 

Tracy

 

Obverse:

 

 

Reverse:

 

Close-up of the I5 hallmark at the 6h. I note that as of October 12, 2024 Medals of Asia has a single dated reference to this hallmark: a Post 2003 Reform Order of the Sacred Treasure with award certificate, dated March 11, 2013.

 

Case lid, with nicely stylized kanji. As No One mentioned above, no more ranked class designation:

 

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

"Case lid, with nicely stylized kanji." The small seal scripts (小篆 / しょうてん / shōten) are very stylized indeed.

 

 

An award document:

 

 

How it is displayed:

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one