TOKYO: The Japanese Order of Culture was conferred on seven people, including manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, 85, in a ceremony held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Sunday.

The other six are poet Mutsuo Takahashi, 86, environmental risk management expert Junko Nakanishi, 86, Japanese painting artist Toshio Tabuchi, 83, cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, 82, molecular cell biology researcher Nobutaka Hirokawa, 78, and commercial code expert Kenjiro Egashira, 78.

In the ceremony, held on Culture Day, Emperor Naruhito handed the badge of the order to the awardees.

“I’m very pleased that you have made great achievements after many years of hard work and served to improve our culture,” the Emperor said to the awardees.

After the ceremony, the awardees held a press conference at the Imperial Household Agency, during which Chiba shared a story about the late manga legend Osamu Tezuka shedding tears of regret at a time when manga was considered a “harmful book.”

“I think Mr. Tezuka is most pleased that manga has been added to the culture in this way,” Chiba said.

JIJI Press