is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The Prize is presented by the Japan Prize Foundation. Since its inception in 1985, the Foundation has awarded 81 people from 13 countries. The Japan Prize consists of a certificate, a commemorative medal and a cash award of ¥50 million. No discrimination is made as to nationality, occupation, race, or gender. Only living persons may be named. Every November, the Japan Prize Foundation selects two fields for the award according to current trends in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

. The nomination and selection process takes about one year. The laureates, one from each field, are announced in January. The prestigious prize presentation ceremony is held in the presence of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and the

Empress of Japan The Empress of Japan is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. In Japanese, the empress consort is called . The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband o ...

. According to his book ''Dancing Naked in the Mind Field'',

Kary Mullis Kary Banks Mullis (December 28, 1944August 7, 2019) was an American biochemist. In recognition of his role in the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, he shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith and wa ...

, 1993

Nobel Laureate in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry ( sv, Nobelpriset i kemi) is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will of Alfred ...

, addressed

Empress Michiko is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who served as the Empress consort of Japan as the wife of Akihito, the 125th Emperor of Japan reigning from 7 January 1989 to 30 April 2019. Michiko married Crown Prince Akihito and became the Crow ...

as ''sweetie'' when being awarded the prize in 1993 for the development of the

polymerase chain reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) ...

. The events are also attended by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the

President of the House of Councillors The is the presiding officer of the House of Councillors of Japan, and together with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President is also the head of the legislative branch of Japan. The President is elected by members of the Ho ...

, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, foreign ambassadors to Japan and about a thousand other distinguished guests, including eminent academics, researchers and representatives of political, business and press circles. The 2014 Japan Prize Presentation Ceremony was held on April 23 at the National Theatre in Tokyo. At present the international prize is often considered one of the most prestigious awards in science and technology fields after the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

. According to an article in the scientific journal '' Nature Immunology'', the prize is one of the prestigious science awards that recognize immunology as well as Nobel Prize, Sweden (since 1901), Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, USA (since 1946),

Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is an annual award bestowed by the since 1952 for investigations in medicine. It carries a prize money of 120,000 Euro. The prize awarding ceremony is traditionally held on March 14, the birthday of N ...

, Germany (since 1952),

Canada Gairdner International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a p ...

, Canada (since 1959),

Wolf Prize The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for ''"achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of nati ...

, Israel (since 1978), and

Crafoord Prize The Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. The Prize is awarded in partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Crafoord Foun ...

, Sweden (since 1980).

Background

The creation of the Japan Prize was motivated by the desire to express Japan's gratitude to international society. This plan was supported with the funds donated by Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of

Panasonic Corporation formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb s ...

. He was the first chairman of the Japan Prize Preparatory Foundation. In 1982 the Japan Prize Preparatory Foundation is established and then the establishment of the Japan Prize is endorsed by the Cabinet. In 1985 The 1st Japan Prize Presentation Ceremony is held in Tokyo.

Laureates

References

External links

The Japan Prize website
{{Authority control Academic awards Japanese science and technology awards International awards Awards established in 1985 1985 establishments in Japan

Background

Laureates

See also

References

External links