"We were all equal, in the end."
This wonderful Pink Floyd lyric expresses a basic truth about death — except in Japan, where if you were good, the government may reward you with a posthumous rank expressing your notional proximity to the Emperor based on a system dating back to the seventh century. If you are still alive you might get a medal instead, though that will also probably involve some sort of grading.
Japan is famously — almost boastfully — egalitarian, and it is de rigueur for foreign commentators to mention this aspect of its society, whether generally or in specific contexts, such as the comparatively small gap between the compensation of corporate presidents and their underlings. Yet few have noticed that this supposedly inherently Japanese trait is missing from the nation's system of honors, possibly because it largely ignores the contributions (heh heh) of foreign commentators.