Gov't grants 2017 decorations to 4,080 Japanese, 105 foreigners

What was the ages ranges, seems you have to be over 70 to get an award

Getting awards are what people see us from outside. Doing our best is what really matters , no matter the age.

Award or not , If we carry on the right way of things that is all that matters.

"Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, 79, will be given the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the highest honor in this spring's commendations"

Why? This certainly does not reflect the view of the Japanese people. Mori is universally despised by Japanese young and old. He was hated during his failed tenure as PM and is hated now for constantly interfering in public life despite the fact he should have retired 16 years ago after being fired as PM after only a year in office. He is a constant source of embarrassment with his seemingly endless stream of gaffes and disingenuous comments both while PM and after, continuing now during his constant meddling with the 2020 Tokyo Olmpics.

In twenty years in Japan I have never ever heard any Japanese express any feelings on Mori except for those of complete contempt. He is often cited by Japanese academics as a prime example of "Rougai" (老害) - the perpetual interference and blighting of younger generations' lives by a controlling gerontocracy.

It is interesting to note the award is in the name of the Imperial family headed by His Majesty Emperor Heisei, indeed a great and honorable man who is said to despise Mori for causing controversy in 2000 by citing old references to a divine imperial system. The Heisei Emperor spent years trying to distance himself from his father (universally recognised outside Japan as the world's greatest ever war criminal second only to Hitler) only to have this honorable good deed and tireless efforts rendered meaningless by Mori. It shows how irrelevant the award system is for honoring such a small and worthless person as Mori and how the Imperial Household Agency continues to take advantage of the Imperial System only to serve its own interests with such grand orders.