Document for the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

[BTR]

Good day to all.
Can I find out who was awarded when and for what?

[ghp95134]

羽賀郡司
Haga Gun-shi
Haga District Governor's Office

大正六年六月二十六日
Taisho 6 [1917] June 26

Found a good English translation while googling and added your data to it:

The Emperor of Greater Japan, having come to the Imperial throne in an unbroken Imperial line with divine guidance, confers the Meiji Order of Merit, Eighth Class, and awards the Order of the Sacred Treasure to the Haga District Governor's Office along with the honours and privileges appurtenant thereto. The Imperial Seal has been affixed in the Imperial Palace on the 2577th year since the ascension to the throne of Emperor Jimmu this 26th day of July, Taisho 6 [1917].

Edit: Left side of document.
四十八万五千三號
No. 485,003


-- Guy

[ghp95134]

Quick method of figuring out the Imperial Year: IY - 660 = CE

2577-660=1917

-- Guy

[BTR]

If I understand correctly, this award is not for a specific person, but for a government institution?

[ghp95134]

If I understand correctly, this award is not for a specific person, but for a government institution?

That's what it looks like. Perhaps the Haga Governor Office helped the war effort in some way (WWI)?

-- Guy

[JapanX]

羽賀郡司 - Haga Gunji

Just a moment...

Just a moment...


Best,
Nick

[Akira Komiya]

Guy-san:
I don’t think orders, particularly a lowly order as the Sacred Treasure 8th Class would have been awarded to a district governor. “羽賀郡司 - Gunji Haga” can be an individual’s name and I think it is more likely that it was awarded to a low ranking public servant such as a policeman for long service. Incidentally, if you conduct a Google search for the word “羽賀郡司” the first hit you will get is for a character in a gay manga (cartoon)!

[ghp95134]

Nick and Akira-san,

I’m soooooooo embarrassed !!!! Thank you both for keeping me straight.

— Guy

[Akira Komiya]

Sorry, manga is a comic, not a cartoon.
Until the word “anime” was invented, we didn’t distinguish between printed comics and cartoons calling them both “漫画 - manga”.
Getting back to the topic, the main criticism against the old order system was that awards were bestowed based on the awardees’ social status and not the person’s achievement or sacrifice. Thus an enlisted man killed in combat will be awarded the lowest grade of the Rising Sun, whereas a newly appointed Second Lieutenant would be given a higher class, probably the 6th class? upon being commissioned. One of my college professors was a person of strong leftist inclination very critical of the pre-war regime, and in one class he said, “It may surprise you, but even I am a holder of an honor award”. He was drafted into the army but being a college graduate, became a “幹部候補生 - Cadre Candidate” and upon completing his training, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and received his order. He then went on berating the order system.
Many apparently shared his sentiment which lead to a major revision of the order system in 2003 abolishing the numeric class designations from the orders’ titles and entitling women to the order of the Rising Sun which was previously restricted to men only. So now the “Order of the White Pawlonia Leaves Eighth Class” is simply the “Order of White Pawlonia Leaves”, etc., although I suspect that the grades are still determined based on the recipient’s social status.

[Akira Komiya]

I forgot to mention that the one slight variation to the grading system for orders based on ranks was the order of the Golden Kite.
Although the award regulations did specify that the class of the first time award of the Golden Kite was based on the rank of the recipient (for subsequent awards, up to 2 higher classes could be awarded), it also specified that in case of certain outstanding achievements, an award one grade higher than that prescribed by the recipient's rank could be awarded.
The regulations were further amended on September 25, 1942 prescribing that in case of a special wish of the Emperor, an award 2 grades higher than that warranted by the recipient's rank could be awarded for the first award. (Although by this date, the only awards of the Golden Kite were posthumous awards.）
Thus, Navy Lieutenant Yukio Seki, the commander of the Shikishima Kamikaze unit was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite Third Class despite it being his first award and his being a company grade officer at the time of his death. (He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Commander.)
For details of the regulations of the award of the Golden Kite, please refer to the extensive article written by my late brother at this link: Story of the Golden Kite