Combined with Kunto (order of merit) it was also called "Ikai Kunto" in Japan, and generally referred to what was stipulated by the Ritsuryo codes (the Ritsuryo System, a system of centralized government based on the ritsuryo code). (Particularlly from the Meiji to the early Showa periods, the Order of the Golden Kite was included.)
日本では勲等と並び位階勲等と称され、主に律令法（律令制）によって定められたものを指す(主に明治時代から昭和前期までは金鵄勲章功級も含まれた)。