The Japanese Imperial Family honours excellence in the arts

by Chris MaGee

Here's some news that fans of Japanese culture and the arts might be interested in. The winners of the Praemium Imperiale Awards, the highest honour granted by Japan for achievements in the arts, were announced yesterday. Famed kabuki actor Sakata Tōjūrō IV (above centre), conductor Zubin Mehta, artist Richard Hamilton, sculptors Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and architect Peter Zumthor were awarded with the ¥15 million ($143,000 US) prize that is given out annually by the Japanese Imperial family. While the prize honours excellence in painting, sculpture, music, architecture as well as film, no filmmakers were amongst this year's winners. The only Japanese filmmaker to receive this honour was Akira Kurosawa in 1992.

Thanks to Yahoo Canada for this story.