The government this week will honor 3,964 of the country’s most distinguished citizens while also conferring orders on a record 89 foreigners from 38 nations, including former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, officials said Tuesday.

Rumsfeld, 83, and former European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, 68, will receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Retired American Major League Baseball player Hank Aaron, 81, will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the highest decoration to be awarded this fall, will go to Hironobu Takesaki, 71, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Actor Kinya Kitaoji, 72, and professional golfer Isao Aoki, 73, will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

Former farm minister Seiichi Ota, 70, former Sankei Shimbun Co. President Takehiko Kiyohara, 78, and former Tohoku Electric Power Co. President Keiichi Makuta, 80, will be among the recipients of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Of the Japanese recipients, 361 are women, or 9.1 percent of the total. People from the private sector number 1,751, or 44.2 percent, a record-high proportion since the current decoration system was adopted in 2003.

In the realm of art and culture, Yaeyama folk singer Kosei Miyara, 75, and shoji player Nobuyuki Ouchi, 74, will be presented with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays.

From the world of academia, Yoshiyuki Sakaki, 73, a professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo known for his research on the human genome, will receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.

The awards ceremony will be held Thursday at the Imperial Palace, with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.