TOKYO: Japan held the award ceremony for this year’s Order of Culture recipients at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday.

At the ceremony, held on Culture Day, Emperor Naruhito handed the badge of the order to Mansaku Nomura, 92, actor of “noh” traditional Japanese theatre, and six other awardees.

“I am truly pleased that you have made great achievements after many years of hard work and have devoted yourself to the improvement of our culture,” the Emperor said.

The other award recipients are novelist Nanami Shiono, 86, calligrapher Keido Ishige, 87, former Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi, 86, Kohei Tamao, 81-year-old Kyoto University professor emeritus specializing in synthetic organic chemistry and organometallic chemistry, Katsuhito Iwai, a 76-year-old economist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and Tadatsugu Taniguchi, 75-year-old University of Tokyo professor emeritus specializing in molecular biology and immunology.

The seven recipients held a press conference after the ceremony.

“I have been doing it (noh) for nearly 90 years, but I have not reached the ultimate level of art,” Nomura said, showing his enthusiasm for activities. Kawabuchi said, “I’m happy that our sports culture has been recognized by the country.”

JIJI Press