TOKYO: The Japanese government decided Friday to grant the Order of Culture for fiscal 2023 to seven people, including novelist Nanami Shiono, 86, and former Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi, 86.

The other five are Katsuhito Iwai, a 76-year-old economist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, calligrapher Keido Ishige, 87, Tadatsugu Taniguchi, 75-year-old University of Tokyo professor emeritus specializing in molecular biology and immunology, Kohei Tamao, 80-year-old Kyoto University professor emeritus specializing in synthetic organic chemistry and organometallic chemistry, and noh actor Mansaku Nomura, 92.

The government also selected 20 Persons of Cultural Merit, including actor Kinya Kitaoji, 80, fashion designer Rei Kawakubo, 81, and manga artist Machiko Satonaka, 75.

The award ceremony for the Order of Culture recipients will be held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 3, and that for the Persons of Cultural Merit will take place at a hotel in the Japanese capital on Nov. 6.

JIJI Press