Order of the Precious Crown

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
Grand Mistress	HM The Empress
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

The Order of the Precious Crown (宝冠章, Hōkan-shō) is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]