Japanese Government Grants Omara Portuondo and Teresita Hernández the Order of the Rising Sun

May 23, 2019

The Cuban Embassy in Japan has informed that the Japanese government announced the foreign personalities and artists who receive this year 2019, the decoration Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. The highest award was granted to the performer Omara Portuondo Peláez and Teresita Hernández Corrales.

Recognized as The Diva of the Buenavista Club, Omara Portuondo has contributed through Cuban song for more than half a century, to improve relations between both peoples whose cultures are very distant.

For her part, Teresita Hernández was for more than two decades director of the Casa de Asia in the historic center of Habana Vieja, a position she held from its creation until last year.

Likewise, both personalities are valued for their merits and professional qualities in the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and Cuba.

The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, was created on April 10, 1875 by Emperor Meiji, Mutsu-Hito and is the second laurel in the Japanese system after the Order of the Chrysanthemum.

The distinction is conferred to reward special services of a military and civil character rendered to Japan, and since 1981 it can be granted to foreign citizens with a Diploma signed by the reigning Emperor himself.

The Order has as its insignia the rising sun projecting its powerful rays. It is based on the allegory of Japan as the "Empire of the Rising Sun" whose rays provide energy and power.