Order of Culture
Encyclopedia
The is a Japan
ese order
, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art
, literature
or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life. The order is conferred by the Emperor of Japan
in person on Culture Day
(November 3) each year.
The badge of the order, which is in gold with white enamel, is in the form of an mandarin orange
blossom; the central disc bears three crescent-shaped jade
s (magatama
). The badge is suspended on a gold and enamel wreath of mandarin orange leaves and fruit, which is in turn suspended on a purple ribbon worn around the neck.
The order ranks between the Order of the Sacred Treasures
, First Class and the Order of the Rising Sun
, Double Rays (second class).
(November 3rd). Candidates for the Order of Culture are selected from the Persons of Cultural Merit by the Minister for Education, Science, Sports and Culture upon hearing views of all the members of the selection committee for the Persons of Cultural Merit. The Minister then recommends the candidates to the Prime Minister so that they can be decided by the Cabinet.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese order
Order (decoration)
An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...
, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art
Japanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
, literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life. The order is conferred by the Emperor of Japan
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
in person on Culture Day
Culture Day
is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.-History:...
(November 3) each year.
The badge of the order, which is in gold with white enamel, is in the form of an mandarin orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
blossom; the central disc bears three crescent-shaped jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
s (magatama
Magatama
Magatama , are curved beads which first appeared in Japan during the Jōmon period.They are often found inhumed in mounded tumulus graves as offerings to deities . They continued to be popular with the ruling elites throughout the Kofun Period of Japan, and are often romanticised as indicative of...
). The badge is suspended on a gold and enamel wreath of mandarin orange leaves and fruit, which is in turn suspended on a purple ribbon worn around the neck.
The order ranks between the Order of the Sacred Treasures
Order of the Sacred Treasures
The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...
, First Class and the Order of the Rising Sun
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...
, Double Rays (second class).
System of recognition
The Order of Culture and Persons of Cultural Merit function together in honoring contributions to the advancement and development of Japanese culture in a variety of fields such as academia, arts and others.Order of Culture
The Emperor himself presents the honor at the award ceremony, which takes place at the Imperial Palace on the Day of CultureCulture Day
is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.-History:...
(November 3rd). Candidates for the Order of Culture are selected from the Persons of Cultural Merit by the Minister for Education, Science, Sports and Culture upon hearing views of all the members of the selection committee for the Persons of Cultural Merit. The Minister then recommends the candidates to the Prime Minister so that they can be decided by the Cabinet.
Persons of Cultural Merit
The system for Persons of Cultural Merit was established in 1951 by the Law on Pensions for the Persons of Cultural Merit. The purpose is to honor persons of cultural merit by providing a special government-sponsored pension. Since 1955, the new honorees have been announced on the Day of Culture, the same day as the award ceremony for the Order of Culture.Selected recipients
A complete list can be found here http://homepage1.nifty.com/kitabatake/biunka.html.- Akira IfukubeAkira Ifukubewas a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores, perhaps best known for his work on the soundtracks of the Godzilla movies by Toho.-Biography:...
(1914–2006). A composer of classical music and film scores. - Ryukichi Inada (1874-1950). A physician, a prominent academic, and bacteriologist researcher.
- Hideo KobayashiHideo Kobayashiwas a Japanese author, who established literary criticism as an independent art form in Japan.-Early life:Kobayashi was born in the Kanda district of Tokyo. He studied French literature at Tokyo Imperial University and graduated in 1927...
(1902-1983). An author, who established literary criticism as an independent art form in Japan. - Hantaro Nagaoka (1865-1950). A physicist and a pioneer of Japanese physics in the early Meiji period.
- Nakamura Kichiemon INakamura Kichiemon Iwas a Japanese actor and kabuki performer. In 1945, he became the senior living kabuki actor in Japan.Kichiemon construed his career in terms of "lifelong study" of that which cannot be seen in an actor's performance....
(1896-1954). 1st kabukiKabukiis classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
actor to receive this honor. - Nakamura Utaemon VINakamura Utaemon VIwas a Japanese kabuki performer and an artistic director of the Kabuki-za in Tokyo. He was a prominent member of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region....
(1917-2001). A famous kabuki actor, known for his oyamaOyama (Japanese theatre)Onnagata or oyama , are male actors who impersonate women in Japanese kabuki theatre. The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as yarō kabuki to distinguish it from earlier forms...
roles. - Kinjiro OkabeKinjiro Okabewas a Japanese electrical engineering researcher and professor who made major contributions to magnetron and radar development.One of Japan’s best-known radio researchers in the 1920s-30s era was Professor Hidetsugu Yagi, who was initially at Tohoku University. Kinjiro Okabe was one of Yagi’s first...
(1896-1984). An electrical engineering researcher and professor who developed the split-anode magnetron. - Jirō OsaragiJiro Osaragiwas the pen-name of a popular Japanese writer in Shōwa period Japan, known primarily for his historical fiction novels, which appeared serialized in newspapers and magazines. His real name was .-Early life:Osaragi Jirō was born in Yokohama...
(1897-1973). A popular writer in Showa periodShowa periodThe , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
. - Junjiro Takakusu (1866-1945). An academic, an advocate for expanding higher education opportunities, and an internationally known Buddhist scholar.
- Kenjiro TakayanagiKenjiro Takayanagiwas a Japanese pioneer in the development of television. Although he failed to gain much recognition in the West, he built the world's first all-electronic television receiver, and is referred to as "the father of Japanese television".-Career:...
(1899-1990). A pioneer in the development of televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. - Morohashi TetsujiMorohashi Tetsujiwas an important figure in the field of Japanese language studies and Sinology. He is best known as Chief Editor of the Dai Kan-Wa jiten, the most comprehensive dictionary of Kanji....
(1883-1982). An important figure in the world of Japanese studies and SinologySinologySinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
. - Susumu TonegawaSusumu TonegawaSusumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training...
(1984). A scientist who won the Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for Physiology or Medicine in 1987. - Eiji YoshikawaEiji Yoshikawawas a Japanese historical novelist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three...
(1892-1962). A historical novelist.
1994
- Takashi AsahinaTakashi Asahinawas a Japanese conductor. Born in Tokyo, he founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra in 1947 and remained its chief conductor until his death in Kobe. Inspired by a meeting with Wilhelm Furtwängler in the 1950s, he began a lifelong attachment to the music of Anton Bruckner, recording the complete...
(1908-2001). Orchestral conductor. - Tadao UmesaoTadao Umesaowas a Japanese anthropologist. A professor for decades at Kyoto University, he was also among the founders and the director-general of National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan. A number of Umesao's theories were influential on anthropologists, and his work was also well known among the general...
. Ethnologist. - Hideo ShimaHideo Shimawas a Japanese engineer and the driving force behind the building of the first bullet train .Shima was born in Osaka in 1901, and educated at the Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied engineering...
(1901-1998). Railway engineer.
1995
- Shigemitsu DandōShigemitsu Dandois a Japanese academic researcher of criminology, and a former judge of Supreme Court of Japan. He was born in Yamaguchi, Japan.He is also the professor with honor of faculty of social science and political science at the University of Tokyo.- References :...
. Criminologist. - Shūsaku EndōShusaku EndoShūsaku Endō was a 20th-century Japanese author who wrote from the unusual perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic...
(1923-1996). Writer.
1996
- Hanae MoriHanae MoriHanae Mori is a fashion designer in Japan. She is the only Japanese woman to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the fédération française de la couture in France...
. Fashion designer. - Rizō TakeuchiTakeuchi Rizōis a Japanese historian. His is best known for his work on historical records pertaining to the ancient and Middle Ages of Japanese history.-Background:Takeuchi was born in Aichi Prefecture on December 20, 1907...
(1907-1997). Historian of Japan.
1997
- Masatoshi KoshibaMasatoshi Koshibais a Japanese physicist. He jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002.He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1951 and received a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Rochester, New York, in 1955...
. Nobel Prize-winning physicist. - Hirofumi Uzawa. Economist.
1998
- Ikuo HirayamaIkuo Hirayama-Life and Work:Ikuo Hirayama , was a Japanese Nihonga painter. Born in Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of dreamy desert landscapes in Iran, Iraq, and China.In 1952, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Art, or what is today's Tokyo National...
(1930-2009). NihongaNihongaor literally "Japanese-style paintings" is a term used to describe paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials...
artist. - Tadamitsu Kishimoto. Immunologist.
1999
- Hiroyuki AgawaHiroyuki Agawais a Japanese author born on December 24, 1920, in Hiroshima, Japan. He is known for his fiction centered on World War II, as well as his biographies and essays.- Literary career :...
. Writer. - Takeshi UmeharaUmehara Takeshiwas born in Miyagi Prefecture in Tōhoku in 1925 and graduated from the philosophical faculty of Kyoto University in 1948. He taught philosophy at Ritsumeikan University and was subsequently appointed rector of the Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Arts...
. Scholar of Japanese cultural studies.
2000
- Ryōji NoyoriRyoji Noyoriis a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. Noyori shared half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the Prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions...
. Nobel Prize-winning chemist. - Hideki ShirakawaHideki ShirakawaHideki Shirakawa is a Japanese chemist and winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of conductive polymers together with physics professor Alan J. Heeger and chemistry professor Alan G...
. Nobel Prize-winning chemist. - Isuzu YamadaIsuzu Yamadais a Japanese actress on stage and screen whose career has spanned eight decades.-Career:Yamada was born in Osaka with the name Mitsu Yamada. Her father, Kusuo Yamada, was a shinpa stage actor specializing in onnagata roles and her mother, Ritsu, was a geisha...
. Actress.
2002
- Kyōhei Fujita Kyohei Fujitawas a Japanese glass artist. He is best known for his glass boxes with complicated surface decorations, and his work was included in the exhibit One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, December 22, 2006-September 3, 2007.-References:* Boone,...
(1921-2004). Glass artist. - Kaneto ShindōKaneto Shindo, Hiroshima, Japan) is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His best known films include Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island, Onibaba, Kuroneko and A Last Note.Shindō has often made films dealing with Hiroshima or the atomic bomb...
. Film director. - Kōichi TanakaKoichi Tanakais a Japanese scientist who shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002 for developing a novel method for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules with John Bennett Fenn and Kurt Wuthrich ....
. Nobel Prize-winning scientist.
2003
- Kazuhiko NishijimaKazuhiko Nishijima-Awards:*Nishina Memorial Prize*Japan Academy Prize*Order of Culture of Japan*Guggenheim Fellowship-Further reading:...
(1926-2009). Physicist. - Sadako OgataSadako Ogata, is a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator and professor emeritus at Sophia University.-Early life:Sadako Nakamura was born in 1927...
. Political scientist and diplomat. - Makoto ŌokaMakoto Ookais a Japanese poet and literary critic.Ooka's poetry column was published without a break seven days a week for more than 20 years on the front page of Asahi Shimbun, which is Japan's leading national newspaper.-Notes:...
. Poet and literary critic.
2005
- Mitsuko MoriMitsuko Mori, real name , is a Japanese actress. In May 2009, she became the first actor in Japan to have performed 2,000 times. She was born in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan.On May 11, 2009, Takeo Kawamura announced that Mori would be awarded the People's Honour Award....
. Actress. - Makoto Saitō (1921-2008). Political scientist, specializing in American diplomatic and political history.
2006
- Yoshiaki ArataYoshiaki Aratais a pioneer of nuclear fusion research in Japan and a former professor at Osaka University. He is reported to be a strong nationalist, speaking only Japanese in public...
. A pioneer of nuclear fusionNuclear fusionNuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
research. - Jakuchō SetouchiJakucho Setouchi, formerly , is a Buddhist nun, writer and activist.- Biography :Setouchi was born in Tokushima. She attended Tokyo Woman's Christian University and graduated with a degree in Japanese Literature...
. Writer/Buddhist nun. - Hidekazu YoshidaHidekazu Yoshidais a Japanese music critic and literary critic, active in Shōwa and Heisei Japan.-Biography:Yoshida was born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. From an early age, he was interested in languages, and joined in club activities involving English and German when in high school...
. Music critic.
2007
- Shinya NakamuraShinya Nakamurais a professional Go player.-Biography:Nakamura became a professional in 1991. He reached his current rank, 8 dan, in 2001. Nakamura was taught by Yorimoto Yamashita. In 1996, Nakamura lost in the Shinjin-O final to future Honinbō Shinji Takao. Two years later, in 1998, he won his first and only...
. Sculptor. - Kōji NakanishiKoji Nakanishia bioorganic and natural products chemist, is Centennial Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and former Chairman of the Chemistry Department, Columbia University....
. Organic chemist.
2008
- Hironoshin FuruhashiHironoshin Furuhashiwas a Japanese freestyle swimmer. In 1948, he set world records in the 400 and 1,500 meter freestyles at the Japan national championships. Furuhashi and Japan were not allowed to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics because of Japan's role in World War II....
(1928-2009). Sportsman and sports bureaucrat. - Kiyoshi ItōKiyoshi Itowas a Japanese mathematician whose work is now called Itō calculus. The basic concept of this calculus is the Itō integral, and among the most important results is Itō's lemma. The Itō calculus facilitates mathematical understanding of random events...
. A mathematician whose work is now called Itō calculus.> - Donald KeeneDonald KeeneDonald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years...
. A Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literatureJapanese literatureEarly works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
and culture. - Makoto KobayashiMakoto Kobayashi (physicist)is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one quarter of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."- Biography :After completing his PhD at...
. A physicist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Physics. - Toshihide Masukawa. A theoretical physicist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Physics. - Seiji OzawaSeiji Ozawais a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
. A conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late RomanticRomantic musicRomantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
works. - Osamu ShimomuraOsamu Shimomurais a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, and Professor Emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University Medical School...
. An organic chemist and marine biologist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Chemistry. - Seiko Tanabe. Writer.
2009
- Sumio IijimaSumio IijimaSumio Iijima is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the discoverer of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "discovery", Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of...
. Physicist. - Tōjūrō Sakata IVSakata Tojuro IV' is a Japanese kabuki actor in the Kamigata style. and is officially designated a Living National Treasure. Unlike most kabuki actors, he performs both male and female roles, and is renowned as both a skilled wagotoshi and onnagata...
. KabukiKabukiis classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
actor.
2010
- Tadao AndoTadao Andois a Japanese architect whose approach to architecture was once categorized by Francesco Dal Co as critical regionalism. Ando has led a storied life, working as a truck driver and boxer prior to settling on the profession of architecture, despite never having taken formal training in the field...
. - Akito ArimaAkito Arimais a Japanese nuclear physicist, known for the interacting boson model.Arima was born 1930 in Osaka. He studied at the University of Tokyo, where he received his doctorate in 1958. He became a research associate at the Institute for Nuclear Studies, the University of Tokyo in 1956. He became a...
. Nuclear physicist. - Issei Miyake. Fashion designer.
- Eiichi Negishi. Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate.
- Yukio NinagawaYukio Ninagawais a Japanese theatre director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He has directed Hamlet differently six times....
. Stage director. - Akira SuzukiAkira Suzuki (chemist)is a Japanese chemist and Nobel Prize Laureate , who first published the Suzuki reaction, the organic reaction of an aryl- or vinyl-boronic acid with an aryl- or vinyl-halide catalyzed by a palladium complex, in 1979.-Life:...
. Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate. - Haruko WakitaHaruko Wakitais a Japanese academic, editor and expert in medieval Japanese women's history.-Early life:Since the age of six, Wakita was interested in Noh drama; and she regularly performs on stage. The insight gained from her lifelong study and practice of this medieval theatrical art informs her historical...
. Medieval historian.
Known to have declined the honor
- Kenzaburō ŌeKenzaburo Oeis a Japanese author and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His works, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues including nuclear weapons, social non-conformism and existentialism.Ōe was awarded...
, 1994 NobelNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureate and critic of the Japanese Imperial system, is the only person to have refused to accept an award of the Order of Culture.
External links
- Japan, Cabinet Office: Decorations and Medals
- Decoration Bureau: Order of Culture
- Japan MintJapan MintThe is an Incorporated Administrative Agency of the Japanese government. This agency has its Head office in Osaka with branches in Tokyo and Hiroshima.-History:...
: Production Process