History

Order of the Rising sun is the first order officially established by the Japanese government in Meiji restoration.
The order was officially established in Meiji 8th year (1875), however, few prototypes of the order was made in 1873 and 1874. Some of those extremely rare prototypes was awarded in later years due to the great demands after Satsuma Rebellion.
The order was established with 8 classes. In 1875, the order was simply called "the medals". (賞牌) "Order of the Rising Sun" (旭日章) was officially named in 1876 with the establish of the Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum.
The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (旭日桐花大綬章) was established in 1888 as the highest class of the order until 2003.
The order was reformed into 6 classes in 2003, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers also became an independent order since then.
The manufacture and accessories of the order has changed several times in centuries, those features can be seen as references for dating manufacture time for individual pieces of the order.
The Grand Cordon (1st class) of the order can be award to generals or high rank civil officers (勅任官) with excellence contributions.