Order of Culture

The Emperor himself presents the honor at 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 of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, upon hearing views of all the members of the selection committee for the Persons of Cultural Merit. The Minister then recommends the candidates to the Prime Minister so that they can be decided by the Cabinet.[2]

The system for Persons of Cultural Merit was established in 1951 by the Law on Pensions for the Persons of Cultural Merit. The purpose is to honor persons of cultural merit by providing a special government-sponsored pension. Since 1955, the new honorees have been announced on the Day of Culture, the same day as the award ceremony for the Order of Culture.[2]

• Masaru Ibuka (1908–1997). Co-founder, President and Chairman of Sony Corporation.[16]

• Takashi Asahina (1908–2001). Orchestral conductor.[17]
• Tadao Umesao (1920–2010). Ethnologist.[18]
• Hideo Shima (1901–1998). Railway engineer.

• Shigemitsu Dandō (1913–2012). Criminologist.[19]
• Shūsaku Endō (1923–1996). Writer.[19]

• Hanae Mori (born 1926). Fashion designer.[20]
• Rizō Takeuchi (1907–1997). Historian of Japan.

• Masatoshi Koshiba (1926–2020). Nobel Prize-winning physicist.[21]
• Hirofumi Uzawa (1928–2014). Economist.[21]

• Ikuo Hirayama (1930–2009). Nihonga artist.[22]
• Tadamitsu Kishimoto (born 1939). Immunologist.[22]

• Hiroyuki Agawa (1920–2015). Writer.[23]
• Fuku Akino (1908–2001). Nihonga artist.[24]
• Takeshi Umehara (born 1925). Scholar of Japanese cultural studies.[23]

• Ryōji Noyori. Nobel Prize-winning chemist.[25]
• Hideki Shirakawa. Nobel Prize-winning chemist.[25]
• Isuzu Yamada. Actress.[25]

• Chie Nakane. Social anthropologist.[26]
• Toshio Yodoi (1911–2005). Sculptor.[26]

• Kyōhei Fujita (1921–2004). Glass artist.[27]
• Kaneto Shindō. Film director.[27]
• Kōichi Tanaka. Nobel Prize-winning scientist.[27]

• Kazuhiko Nishijima (1926–2009). Physicist.[28]
• Sadako Ogata. Political scientist and diplomat.[28]
• Makoto Ōoka. Poet and literary critic.[28]

• Yōji Totsuka (1942–2008). Physicist.[29]
• Nakamura Jakuemon, Kabuki actor.
• Toan Kobayashi, Seal carver.
• Shizuka Shirakawa, Scholar of Chinese-language literature.
• Horin Fukuoji, Nihonga painter.

• Mitsuko Mori. Actress.[30]
• Makoto Saitō (1921–2008). Political scientist, specializing in American diplomatic and political history.[30]
• Ryuzan Aoki, Ceramic artist.
• Toshio Sawada, Civil engineer.
• Shigeaki Hinohara, Doctor.

• Yoshiaki Arata. A pioneer of nuclear fusion research.[31]
• Jakuchō Setouchi. Writer/Buddhist nun.[32]
• Hidekazu Yoshida. Music critic.[32]
• Chusaku Oyama, Nihonga painter.
• Miyohei Shinohara, Economist.

• Akira Mikazuki. Former justice minister and professor emeritus.[33]
• Shinya Nakamura. Sculptor.[34]
• Kōji Nakanishi. Organic chemist.[34]
• Tokindo Okada, Developmental biologist.
• Shigeyama Sensaku, Kyogen performer.

• Hironoshin Furuhashi (1928–2009). Sportsman and sports bureaucrat.[35]
• Kiyoshi Itō. A mathematician whose work is now called Itō calculus.[36]
• Donald Keene. A Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture.[36]
• Makoto Kobayashi. A physicist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.[36]
• Toshihide Masukawa. A theoretical physicist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.[36]
• Seiji Ozawa. A conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works.[36]
• Osamu Shimomura. An organic chemist and marine biologist who was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[36]
• Seiko Tanabe. Author.[35]

• Sumio Iijima. Physicist.[37]
• Tōjūrō Sakata IV. Kabuki actor.[37]
• Katsura Beicho, Rakugo performer.
• Akira Hayami, Economist, Historian.
• Yorio Hinuma, Virologist.

• Tadao Ando. Architect.[38]
• Akito Arima. Nuclear physicist.[38]
• Issei Miyake. Fashion designer.[38]
• Eiichi Negishi. Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate.[38]
• Yukio Ninagawa. Stage director.[38]
• Akira Suzuki. Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate.[38]
• Haruko Wakita. Medieval historian.[38]

• Isamu Akasaki, Engineer.
• Ohi Chozaemon, potter.
• Saiichi Maruya, Author.
• Taichiro Mitani, Political and history scholar.
• Mitsuhiro Yanagida, Molecular biologist.

• Shigeru Oda, Jurist, a judge on the International Court of Justice from 1976 to 2003.
• Yoji Yamada, Film Director.
• Shinya Yamanaka, Physiology Nobel Prize laureate, biologist.
• Shuji Takashina, art critic.
• Toshio Matsuo, nihonga painter.
• Yashuyuki Yamada, agronomist.

• Ken Takakura, noted Japanese actor.
• Susumu Nakanishi, noted scholar of Japanese literature.
• Shunichi Iwasaki, noted scholar of electrical engineering.
• Seikaku Takagi, noted Japanese calligrapher.
• Tasuku Honjo, noted immunologist

• Hiroshi Amano, Physics Nobel Prize laureate in 2014.
• Shuji Nakamura, Physics Nobel Prize laureate in 2014.
• Takemoto Sumitayu, narrator of Japanese bunraku, also known as a “ningyo joruri” (puppet theater).
• Taeko Kōno, writer and critic and is considered one of the most important contemporary writers of modern Japanese literature.
• Toyoki Kunitake, researcher in molecular architecture.
• Takashi Negishi, economist.
• Gyoji Nomiyama, Western-style painter.

• Syukuro Manabe. Nobel Prize winning climatologist.
• Shigeo Nagashima. noted former Japanese baseball player.
• Onoe Kikugoro VII. Kabuki actor.
• Tsuneko Okazaki. Molecular biology researcher.
• Hirohiko Okano. Japanese tanka poet.
• Junzo Kawada. Anthropologist.
• Koji Kinutani. Painter.
• Shigefumi Mori. Mathematician.
• Asami Maki. Ballet dancer.

• Kenzaburō Ōe, 1994 Nobel laureate and critic of the Japanese Imperial system.[39]
• Haruko Sugimura, actress.[40]