Order of Culture (Japan)
The Japanese Order of Culture ( Japanese 文化 勲 章 , bunka kunshō ) or Imperial Order of Culture was launched in 1937 and is awarded by the state to personalities who have made a special contribution to Japanese culture.
The award of about five cultural medals, as well as the appointment to the person with special cultural merit , takes place annually on November 3rd at the solemn ceremonies on the day of culture ( 文化 の 日 , bunka no hi ). The cultural order is presented personally by the emperor .
The medal represents the five-petalled orange blossom . In the center of the blossom, three magatama , comma-shaped pearls, are arranged in a star-shaped red circle with a blue border . At the upper end, the medal hangs from an ornate connector made of blossoming orange tree branches on the collar.
Paragraph 14 of the Japanese Constitution stipulates that the award of the cultural order may not be combined with a material benefit. In order to be able to support deserving people materially, however, the "award of people with special cultural merits" was introduced in 1951, which is linked to the annual remuneration paid until the end of life of currently 3,500,000 yen. Those who had been awarded the Order of Culture up to 1950 also subsequently received this remuneration. - Since 1979, the Order of Culture has generally been awarded to people who have already distinguished themselves through special cultural merits. About half of them reach the religious level, sometimes at the same time as the first award, usually only after years.
Exceptionally, the cultural order is also awarded to foreigners. So far, it has been awarded to astronauts Armstrong , Collins , and Aldrin in 1969 , physicist Yōichirō Nambu in 1978 , Japanologist Donald Keene in 2008 and Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura in 2014 . All foreigners honored so far are American, with Nambu and Nakamura being Japanese.
Well-known medal bearers
- Ken Takakura (2013)
- Donald Keene (2008)
- Kōichi Tanaka (2002)
- Yodoi Toshio (2001)
- Ryōji Noyori (2001)
- Hideki Shirakawa (2000)
- Agawa Hiroyuki (1999)
- Tadamitsu Kishimoto (1998)
- Yoshinobu Ashihara (1998)
- Endō Shūsaku (1995)
- Iwahashi Eien (1994)
- Kenzaburō Ōe (1994, rejected)
- Ibuka Masaru (1992)
- Hiroshi Inose (1991)
- Fukuzawa Ichirō (1991)
- Kataoka Tamako (1989)
- Entsuba Katsuzō (1988)
- Ikeda Yōson (1987)
- Yoshii Junji (1986)
- Ogisu Takanori (1986, posthumous)
- Enchi Fumiko (1985)
- Ushijima Noriyuki (1983)
- Koiso Ryōhei (1983)
- Takayama Tatsuo (1982)
- Ogura Yuki (1980)
- Sawada Seiko (1979)
- Horiguchi Daigaku (1979)
- Yōichirō Nambu (1978)
- Yamamoto Kyūjin (1977)
- Ebashi Setsurō (1975)
- Tazaki Hirosuke (1975)
- Nakagawa Kazumasa (1975)
- Koyama Keizō (1975)
- Hashimoto Meiji (1974)
- Ryōgo Kubo (1973)
- Taniguchi Yoshirō (1973)
- Hayaishi Osamu (1972)
- Uchida Yoshikazu (1972)
- Oka Shikanosuke (1972)
- Nogami Yaeko (1971)
- Munakata Shikō (1970)
- Higashiyama Kaii (1969)
- Shōda Kenjirō (1969)
- Kumagai Morikazu (1968, rejected)
- Katayama Nampu (1968)
- Hamada Shōji (1968)
- Hayashi Takeshi (1967)
- Kobayashi Hideo (1967)
- Murano Tōgo (1967)
- Nitta Isamu (1966)
- Tokuoka Shinsen (1966)
- Ibuse Masuji (1966)
- Akabori Shirō (1965)
- Koito Gentarō (1965)
- Morohashi Tetsuji (1965)
- Yamaguchi Hōshun (1965)
- Yamamoto Yūzō (1965)
- Osaragi Jirō (1964)
- Yabuta Teijirō (1964)
- Yoshida Isoya (1964)
- Hirakushi Denchū (1962)
- Nakamura Gakuryō (1962)
- Okumura Togyū (1962)
- Hamao Umezawa (1962)
- Kawabata Yasunari (1961)
- Mizushima San'ichirō (1961)
- Tomimoto Kenkichi (1961)
- Fukuda Heihachirō (1961)
- Dōmoto Inshō (1961)
- Oka Kiyoshi (1960)
- Satō Haruo (1960)
- Tanaka Kōtarō (1960)
- Yoshikawa Eiji (1960)
- Satomi Clay (1959)
- Yoshida Tomizō (1959)
- Kawabata Ryūshi (1959)
- Makino Tomitarō (1957)
- Kubota Mantarō (1957)
- Kodaira Kunihiko (1957)
- Nishiyama Suishō (1957)
- Nishiyama Suishō (1957)
- Watsuji Tetsurō (1955)
- Kawai Kanjirō (1955, rejected)
- Kaburagi Kiyokata (1954)
- Takahama Kiyoshi (1954)
- Itaya Hazan (1953)
- Yabe Hisakatsu (1953)
- Nagai Kafu (1952)
- Tomonaga (1952)
- Yanagita Kunio (1951)
- Kikuchi Seishi (1951)
- Saitō Mokichi (1951)
- Mushanokōji Saneatsu (1951)
- Masamune Hakuchō (1950)
- Doi Bansui (1950)
- Kobayashi Kokei (1950)
- Shiga Naoya (1949)
- Suzuki Daisetsu (1949)
- Tsuda Sōkichi (1949)
- Tanizaki Jun'ichirō (1949)
- Miyabe Kingo (1946)
- Iwanami Shigeo (1946)
- Yoshio Nishina (1946)
- Shiga Kiyoshi (1944)
- Takakusu Junjirō (1944)
- Tanakadate Aikitsu (1944)
- Tokutomi Sohō (1943, returned 1946)
- Asahina Yasuhiko (1943)
- Suzuki Umetaro (1943)
- Miyake Setsurei (1943)
- Yukawa Hideki (1943)
- Wada Eisaku (1943)
- Nishida Kitarō (1940)
- Takagi Teiji (1940)
- Kawai Gyokudō (1940)
- Sasaki Nobutsuna (1937)
- Kimura Hisashi (1937)
- Nagaoka Hantarō (1937)
- Takeuchi Seihō (1937)
- Okada Saburōsuke (1937)
- Fujishima Takeji (1937)
- Yokoyama Taikan (1937)
- Kōda Rohan (1937)
- Honda Kōtarō (1937)
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- ↑ Cabinet Office, Government of Japan: Decorations and Medals - Order of Culture ( Memento of the original dated June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
