The Order of the Sacred Treasure medal (11) (UR/10) *

The Order of the Sacred Treasure medal with ribbon. The Order of the Sacred Treasure (or 瑞宝章 Zuihō-shō in Japanese) is the most widely conferred Japanese order and it was established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji and originally called the Order of Meiji. 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. It was initially awarded in eight classes, but since 2003 this has been changed to six classes (the lowest two medals were abolished that year). The Order 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. Although the order was originally only given to males, it’s been made available to women since 1919. Conventionally, a diploma is prepared to accompany the insignia of the order. In some rare instances, the personal signature of the emperor will have been added.