Asahi Prize

The Asahi Prize (朝日賞, Asahi Shō), established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun 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.^[1]

Asahi Prize
Awarded for	Achievement in science or arts that has made a great contribution to culture or society
Country	Japan
Presented by	Asahi shimbun and Asahi Shimbun Foundation
First awarded	1929
Website	www.asahi.com/corporate/award/asahi/12737983

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.^[2]

Prize winners

Past prize winners include the following.^[1]

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, novelist, 1948
• NHK Symphony Orchestra, 1951
• Mashiho Chiri, 1954
• Eiji Yoshikawa, novelist, 1955
• Shikō Munakata, artist, 1964
• Jirō Osaragi, writer, 1964
• Akira Kurosawa, film director, 1965
• Haruko Sugimura, actress, 1968
• Ryōtarō Shiba, novelist, 1982
• Ineko Sata, writer, 1983
• Yasushi Inoue, novelist, 1984
• Seiji Ozawa, conductor, 1985
• Osamu Tezuka, manga artist, 1987
• Migishi Setsuko, artist, 1989
• Seichō Matsumoto, novelist, 1989
• Shuhei Fujisawa, novelist, 1993
• Tadao Ando, architect, 1994 (1996 Praemium Imperiale winner) (1997 Royal Gold Medal winner)
• Kenzaburō Ōe, novelist, 1994 (1994 Nobel Prize in Literature)
• Shuntaro Tanikawa, poet, 1995
• Yoji Yamada, film director, 1996
• Donald Keene, writer, 1997
• Yayoi Kusama, artist, 2000 (2006 Praemium Imperiale winner)
• Hayao Miyazaki, film director, 2001 (2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature winner)
• Ai Nagai, playwright, 2005 ^[3]
• Haruki Murakami, novelist, 2006
• Shigeru Mizuki, manga artist, 2008^[4]
• Tadanori Yokoo, artist, 2011^[5]
• Takarazuka Revue, 2013^[6]
• Tatsuya Nakadai, actor, 2013
• Shigeru Ban, architect, 2014
• Taichi Yamada, screenwriter, 2014
• Tōta Kaneko, poet 2015
• Kazushi Ono, conductor 2015
• Moto Hagio, manga artist, 2016
• Jakucho Setouchi novelist, 2017
• Yoko Tawada, writer, 2019
• Haruomi Hosono. bass player, 2020
• Daidō Moriyama, photographer, 2020
• Machi Tawara, poet, 2021
• Miyako Ishiuchi, photographer, 2022
• Kojin Karatani, philosopher and critic, 2022
• Tamie Kaino, gender-matter jurist, 2023
• Susumu Shimazono, religion scholar, 2023
• Nobuko Imai, violist, 2024
• Hiroyuki Sanada, actor, 2024

Science

• Yoshio Nishina, physicist, 1944
• Shinichiro Tomonaga, physicist, 1946 (1965 Nobel Prize in Physics)
• Shoichi Sakata, physicist, 1948
• Tomizo Yoshida, pathologist, 1951
• Kiyoshi Oka, mathematician, 1953
• Hamao Umezawa, 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, mathematician, 1967 (1970 Fields Medal)
• Setsuro Ebashi, biomedical scientist, 1968 (1999 International Prize for Biology)
• Reiji Okazaki, molecular biologist, 1970
• Kimishige Ishizaka, immunologist, 1973
• Kiyoshi Itô, mathematician, 1977 (2006 Gauss Prize)
• Susumu Tonegawa, molecular biologist, 1981 (1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)
• Tasuku Honjo, 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, biologist, 1986 (1992 Darwin Medal)
• Kamiokande Project Team (Leader: Masatoshi Koshiba), 1987 (2002 Nobel Prize in Physics)
• Masaki Kashiwara / Takahiro Kawai, mathematician, 1987
• Hirotsugu Akaike, statistician, 1988
• Tadamitsu Kishimoto, immunologist, 1988 (2009 Crafoord Prize)
• Tadatsugu Taniguchi, immunologist, 1988
• Tomisaku Kawasaki, pediatrician, 1989
• Masato Sagawa, Metallurgist, 1990 (2012 Japan Prize)
• Goro Shimura, mathematician, 1991
• Ryoji Noyori, chemist, 1992 (2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
• Masatoshi Takeichi, biologist, 1993
• Makoto Kobayashi, physicist, 1994 (2008 Nobel Prize in Physics)
• Toshihide Masukawa, physicist, 1994 (2008 Nobel Prize in Physics)
• Nobutaka Hirokawa, neuroscientist, 1995
• Syukuro Manabe, 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, physicist, 1999
• Shuji Nakamura, 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, biomedical scientist, 2007 (2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)
• Yoshinori Ohsumi, biologist, 2008 (2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)
• Hayabusa Mission (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), 2010^[7]
• Kenji Kosaka, psychiatrist, 2013^[6]
• Kazutoshi Mori, molecular biologist, 2013^[6] (2014 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research)
• 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, 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

1. "The Asahi Prize (English version)". The Asahi Shimbun. 2025-01-01. Archived from the original on 2025-01-08. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
2. "Award". Archived from the original on 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
3. Japan Society Archived 2015-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
4. 水木先生受賞『2008年度朝日賞』 (in Japanese). Tourism Section, Trading and Tourism Div., Industry Environment Dept., Sakaiminato City. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
5. "Artist Yokoo, four others win 2011 Asahi Award". Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
6. ２０１３年度朝日賞に仲代達矢ら、宝塚歌劇団も受賞 (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-03.
7. "ISAS ニュース 2011年2月号" (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-02.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Website of the Asahi Shimbun with information on the award winners sorted by year of award (in Japanese)
• Website of the Asahi Shimbun with information on the winners from 2001 to 2017 (in Japanese)
• Website of the Asahi Shimbun with information on the winners from 1971 to 2000 (in Japanese)
• Website of the Asahi Shimbun with information on the winners from 1929 to 1970 (in Japanese)
• Website of the Asahi Shimbun with information on the winners from 1929 to recent years and a description of the achievements since 2000 (in English)