Medals of Honor are medals awarded by the Emperor of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and were first awarded the following year. Several expansions and amendments have been made since then. The medal design for all six types is the same, bearing the stylized characters 褒章 on a gilt central disc surrounded by a silver ring of cherry blossoms on the obverse; only the colors of the ribbon differ.

Commander Samuel Robinson, CBE, RD (1870–1958), born in Hull, England, was a British-Canadian mariner, a Commander in the British Royal Naval Reserve, and a captain of luxury liners in the fleet of Canadian Pacific Steamship Ocean Service during the period spanning the first three decades of the 20th century. Robinson was also one of only three living non-Imperial Family members to have received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan's highest order, for participating in rescue operations in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.