I'm no expert. But this year at one of our Military Collector's meetings, a guy gave a presentation on these Japanese medals. He had examples of the Golden Kite and the Rising Sun.
As you can see, they were issued in Orders or levels. Some of the higher orders, such as 3rd Order is rarely seen outside of Japan. He had picked up one while in the military on a trip to Japan. I guess the others are quite common, relatively speaking. I forgot all that I learned about these medals.
I might be able to get more info for you but it has been a long time since I've seen this member as he does not make all the meetings.
6th Order of Rising Sun
http://cgi.ebay.com/Orig-WW2-Japanese-ORDE...tem230025701471
A grouping of medals
http://cgi.ebay.com/Imperial-Japanese-Meda...tem320023987631
Another Grouping of a KIA - with an explanation of medals-
http://cgi.ebay.com/World-War-II-Japanese-...tem150028447889
Steve