Person of Cultural Merit

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Person of Cultural Merit (文化功労者, bunka kōrōsha) is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions; though no decoration accompanies this honor, it may be considered similar to the UK Order of the Companions of Honour. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of creative activities in Japan. By 1999, 576 people had been selected as Persons of Cultural Merit.[1]

System of recognition

The Order of Culture and Persons of Cultural Merit function in tandem to honor those who have contributed to the advancement and development of Japanese culture in a variety of fields, including academia, arts, science[1] and sports.[2]

Order of Culture

The award ceremony, which takes place at the Imperial Palace on the Day of Culture (November 3). Candidates for the Order of Culture are selected from the Persons of Cultural Merit by the Minister for Education, Science, Sports and Culture who then recommends the candidates to the Prime Minister. The final decisions are made by the Cabinet.[1]

Persons of Cultural Merit

The 1951 Law on Pensions for the Persons of Cultural Merit honors persons of cultural merit by providing a special government-sponsored pension. Since 1955, the new honorees have been announced on the same day as the award ceremony for the Order of Culture.[1]

Decoration of Cultural Merit

In 1943, Hideki Yukawa was honored with the Decoration of Cultural Merit, which was part of an Imperial honors system which predates the present one.[3]

Selected recipients

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan): Culture 2000.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Donald Keene, 7 others win Order of Culture," Yomiuri Shimbun. October 29, 2008.[dead link]
  3. ^ Nobel Prize: Yukawa bio notes
  4. ^ "Rakugo storyteller Beicho Katsura, ex-Yokozuna Taiho among culture award winners". Mainichi Daily News. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-10.[dead link]
  5. ^ Shiba, Ryotaro. (2004). The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, back cover notes.
  6. ^ "Kabuki actor Nakamura Tomijuro dies at 81". Japan Today. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  7. ^ Frängsmyr, Tore. (1993). Nobel Lectures in Physiology or Medicine, 1981-1990, p. 380.
  8. ^ "Japanese Literature Publishing Project (JLPP)". Japanische Botschaft in der Schweiz. 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-06.[dead link]

References

  • Peterson, James W., Barry C. Weaver and Michael A. Quigley. (2001). Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States. San Ramon, California: Orders and Medals Society of America. 10-ISBN 1-890974-09-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-890974-09-1

External links