The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatly contributed to the development and progress of Japanese culture and society at large. The Asahi Prize was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of ''Asahi Shimbun''. It is recognized today as one of the most authoritative private awards.

Prize winners

Past prize winners include the following.

Arts

* Tsubouchi Shōyō, novelist, 1929 * Taikan Yokoyama, artist, 1933 * Jigoro Kano, founder of judo, 1935 * Shimazaki Toson, novelist, 1935 * Ryōhei Koiso, painter, 1939 *

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work range from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle portr ...

, novelist, 1948 *

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra was founded as the ''New Symphony Orchestr ...

, 1951 * Mashiho Chiri, 1954 *

Eiji Yoshikawa was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as ''The Tale of the Heike'', ''Tale of Genji'', ''Water Margin'' and ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', m ...

, novelist, 1955 * Shikō Munakata, artist, 1964 * Jirō Osaragi, writer, 1964 *

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, film director, 1965 * Haruko Sugimura, actress, 1968 * Ryōtarō Shiba, novelist, 1982 * Ineko Sata, writer, 1983 *

Yasushi Inoue was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories, poetry and essays, noted for his historical and autobiographical fiction. His most acclaimed works include '' The Bullfight'' (''Tōgyū'', 1949), ''The Roof Tile of Tempyō'' (''Tenpyō no iraka' ...

, novelist, 1984 *

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

, conductor, 1985 *

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

, manga artist, 1987 * Migishi Setsuko, artist, 1989 * Seichō Matsumoto, novelist, 1989 * Shuhei Fujisawa, novelist, 1993 *

Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...

, architect, 1994 (1996

Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale () is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, mu ...

winner) (1997

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

winner) *

Kenzaburō Ōe was a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issue ...

, novelist, 1994 (1994 Nobel Prize in Literature) * Shuntaro Tanikawa, poet, 1995 *

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ('' The Twilight Samurai'', '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography Yamada was born in Osaka, but due to his father' ...

, film director, 1996 *

Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japane ...

, writer, 1997 *

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and Installation art, installation, and she is also active in painting, performance art, performance, video art, Fashion design, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her wo ...

, artist, 2000 (2006

winner) *

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

, film director, 2001 (2002

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

winner) * Ai Nagai, playwright, 2005 *

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...

, novelist, 2006 * Shigeru Mizuki, manga artist, 2008 *

Tadanori Yokoo is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter. Yokoo's signature style of psychedelia and pastiche engages a wide span of modern visual and cultural phenomena from Japan and around the world. Career Tadanori Yokoo, bo ...

, artist, 2011 *

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway theatre, Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, nov ...

, 2013 *

Tatsuya Nakadai is a Japanese film actor. He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including '' The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus '' Harakiri'', '' Samurai Rebellion'' and '' Kwaidan''. Nakada ...

, actor, 2013 * Shigeru Ban, architect, 2014 * Taichi Yamada, screenwriter, 2014 * Tōta Kaneko, poet 2015 * Kazushi Ono, conductor 2015 *

Moto Hagio is a Japanese manga artist. Regarded for her contributions to ''shōjo'' manga (manga aimed at young and adolescent women), Hagio is considered the most significant artist in the demographic and among the most influential manga artists of al ...

, manga artist, 2016 * Jakucho Setouchi novelist, 2017 * Yoko Tawada, writer, 2019 *

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop f ...

. bass player, 2020 * Daidō Moriyama, photographer, 2020 * Machi Tawara, poet, 2021 *

Miyako Ishiuchi , is a Japanese photographer. In 2005, she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale. In March 2014, she received the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. Ishiuchi's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Mod ...

, photographer, 2022 * Kojin Karatani, philosopher and critic, 2022 * Tamie Kaino, gender-matter jurist, 2023 * Susumu Shimazono, religion scholar, 2023 *

Nobuko Imai is a renowned Japanese classical violist with an extensive career as soloist and chamber musician. Since 1988 she has played a 1690 Andrea Guarneri instrument. Biography Born in Tokyo, Imai began her musical training at the age of six. She b ...

, violist, 2024 *

Hiroyuki Sanada Hiroyuki Sanada (; ; born 12 October 1960) is a Japanese actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Television Award, a Japan Academy Film Prize, two Hochi Film Award ...

, actor, 2024

Science

* Yoshio Nishina, physicist, 1944 * Shinichiro Tomonaga, physicist, 1946 (1965

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

in Physics) *

Shoichi Sakata was a Japanese physicist and Marxist who was internationally known for theoretical work on the subatomic particles.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Shōichi''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ' ...

, physicist, 1948 * Tomizo Yoshida, pathologist, 1951 *

Kiyoshi Oka was a Japanese mathematician who did fundamental work in the theory of several complex variables. Biography Oka was born in Osaka. He went to Kyoto Imperial University in 1919, turning to mathematics in 1923 and graduating in 1924. He was in ...

, mathematician, 1953 *

Hamao Umezawa was a Japanese scientist who discovered several antimicrobial agents and enzyme inhibitors. Umezawa was born in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, as the second son in a family of seven children. After graduating from Musashi Junior and Senior High ...

, scientist, 1958 * Leo Esaki, physicist, 1959 (1973 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Osamu Hayaishi, biochemist, 1964 (1986 Wolf Prize in Medicine) * Yoshimasa Hirata, chemist, 1965 * Chushiro Hayashi, astrophysicist, 1965 *

Heisuke Hironaka is a Japanese mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970 for his contributions to algebraic geometry. Early life and education Hironaka was born on April 9, 1931 in Yamaguchi, Japan. He was inspired to study mathematics after a ...

, mathematician, 1967 (1970

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

) * Setsuro Ebashi, biomedical scientist, 1968 (1999

International Prize for Biology The is an annual award for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of research in fundamental biology." The Prize, although it is not always awarded to a biologist, is one of the most prestigious honours a natural scientist can receive. Ther ...

) *

Reiji Okazaki was a pioneer Japanese molecular biologist, known for his research on DNA replication and especially for describing the role of Okazaki fragments along with his wife Tsuneko. Okazaki was born in Hiroshima, Japan. He graduated in 1953 from ...

, molecular biologist, 1970 * Kimishige Ishizaka, immunologist, 1973 *

Kiyoshi Itô Kiyoshi, (きよし or キヨシ), is a Japanese given name, also spelled Kyoshi. Possible meanings *'' Kyōshi'', a form of Japanese poetry *Kyōshi, a Japanese honorific Written forms *清, "cleanse" *淳, "pure" *潔, "undefiled" *清志, ...

, mathematician, 1977 (2006 Gauss Prize) * Susumu Tonegawa, molecular biologist, 1981 (1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) *

Tasuku Honjo is a Japanese physician-scientist and immunologist. He won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and is best known for his identification of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). He is also known for his molecular identification of c ...

, immunologist, 1981 (2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) * Hidesaburo Hanafusa, virologist, 1983 * Masaki Watanabe, orthopedic surgeon, 1983 * Yasutomi Nishizuka, biochemist, 1985 (1994 Wolf Prize in Medicine) *

Motoo Kimura (November 13, 1924 – November 13, 1994) was a Japanese biologist best known for introducing the neutral theory of molecular evolution in 1968. He became one of the most influential theoretical population geneticists. He is remembered in ge ...

, biologist, 1986 (1992

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

) *

Kamiokande The is a neutrino and gravitational waves laboratory located underground in the Mozumi mine of the Kamioka Mining and Smelting Co. near the Kamioka section of the city of Hida in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. A set of groundbreaking neutrino experimen ...

Project Team (Leader: Masatoshi Koshiba), 1987 (2002 Nobel Prize in Physics) *

Masaki Kashiwara is a Japanese mathematician and professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS). He is known for his contributions to algebraic analysis, microlocal analysis, ''D''-module theory, Hodge theory, sheaf theory and represent ...

/ Takahiro Kawai, mathematician, 1987 * Hirotsugu Akaike, statistician, 1988 * Tadamitsu Kishimoto, immunologist, 1988 (2009

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 following a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is awarded jointly by the Acade ...

) * Tadatsugu Taniguchi, immunologist, 1988 * Tomisaku Kawasaki, pediatrician, 1989 * Masato Sagawa, Metallurgist, 1990 (2012

Japan Prize is awarded to individuals 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. As of 2024, the Japan Prize h ...

) *

Goro Shimura was a Japanese mathematician and Michael Henry Strater Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Princeton University who worked in number theory, automorphic forms, and arithmetic geometry. He was known for developing the theory of complex multip ...

, mathematician, 1991 * Ryoji Noyori, chemist, 1992 (2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) * Masatoshi Takeichi, biologist, 1993 *

Makoto Kobayashi is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one-fourth 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 quar ...

, physicist, 1994 (2008 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Toshihide Masukawa, physicist, 1994 (2008 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Nobutaka Hirokawa, neuroscientist, 1995 *

Syukuro Manabe is a Japanese– American physicist, meteorologist, and climatologist, who pioneered the use of computers to simulate global climate change and natural climate variations. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Klaus Has ...

, meteorologist, 1995 (2021 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Sumio Iijima, physicist, 1996 * Shigekazu Nagata, molecular biologist, 1997 * Super Kamiokande Project Team (Leader: Yoji Totsuka), 1998 * Toshio Yanagida, biophysicist, 1998 *

Seiji Ogawa Seiji Ogawa (小川誠二 ''Ogawa Seiji'', born January 19, 1934) is a Japanese biophysicist and neuroscientist known for discovering the technique that underlies Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). He is regarded as the father of moder ...

, physicist, 1999 *

Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese electronic engineer, inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014. Nakamura specializes in the field of semiconductor technology, and he is a professo ...

, material scientist, 2000 (2014 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Isamu Akasaki, material scientist, 2000 (2014 Nobel Prize in Physics) * Shizuo Akira, immunologist, 2005 * Takao Kondo, biologist, 2006 * Osamu Shimomura, chemist, 2006 (2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) *

Shinya Yamanaka is a Japanese stem cell researcher and a Nobel Prize laureate. He is a professor and the director emeritus of Center for iPS Cell (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) Research and Application, Kyoto University; as a senior investigator at the U ...

, biomedical scientist, 2007 (2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) * Yoshinori Ohsumi, biologist, 2008 (2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) *

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

Mission (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), 2010 * Kenji Kosaka, psychiatrist, 2013 * Kazutoshi Mori, molecular biologist, 2013 (2014

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the Lasker Award, prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for a fundamental discovery that opens up a new area of biomedical science. The award frequently precedes a Nobel Prize in Phys ...

) * Hiroaki Mitsuya, virologist, 2014 * Satoshi Ōmura, biochemist, 2014 (2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) * Hiraku Nakajima, mathematician, 2016 * Jaw-Shen Tsai, Taiwanese physicist, 2020 * Takurō Mochizuki, mathematician, 2020 (2022 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics) * Keiko Torii, plant scientist, 2021 *

Makoto Fujita , born Makoto Harada (April 13, 1933 – February 17, 2010), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, the son of silent-film actor Rintarō Fujima, and started his career as a comedian in 1952. Acting Roles Fujita appeared in bo ...

, chemist, 2022 *Hiroyuki Mano, cancer researcher, 2022 *Shigeru Kuratani, biological scientist, 2023 * Tsutomu Miyasaka, chemist, 2023 * Yoshiko Ogata, mathematical physicist, 2024 * Takashi Taniguchi, material engineer, 2024 * Kenji Watanabe, material engineer, 2024

References

External links

*
Website of the Asahi Shimbun
with information on the award winners sorted by year of award
Website of the Asahi Shimbun
with information on the winners from 2001 to 2017
Website of the Asahi Shimbun
with information on the winners from 1971 to 2000
Website of the Asahi Shimbun
with information on the winners from 1929 to 1970
Website of the Asahi Shimbun
with information on the winners from 1929 to recent years and a description of the achievements since 2000 {{in lang, en Asahi Shimbun Company Academic awards Awards established in 1929 Japanese visual arts awards Japanese science and technology awards 1929 establishments in Japan