Nobelists, Ozawa, Keene to get Order of Culture

The government decided Tuesday to decorate Japan's three Nobel winners this year, along with conductor Seiji Ozawa, literary scholar Donald Keene and three others with the Order of Culture, its highest honor.

The three other recipients are novelist Seiko Tanabe, mathematician Kiyoshi Ito and Hironoshin Furuhashi, chairman emeritus of the Japan Swimming Federation.

The Nobel winners are Makoto Kobayashi, 64, and Toshihide Masukawa, 68 — who shared the physics prize — and Osamu Shimomura, 80, who won the chemistry prize.

Kobayashi and Masukawa shared the prize with Yoichiro Nambu, an 87-year-old Tokyo-born scholar who acquired U.S. citizenship in 1970. Nambu received the top official prize for culture in 1978.

The ceremony will be held Monday, Culture Day, at the Imperial Palace.

Ozawa, 73, is being recognized for his activities in and out of Japan, including his conducting at top orchestras and fostering young musicians. He is currently music director of the Vienna State Opera.

Keene, 86, was commended for his prolific translations of Japanese literature from ancient to modern times, and helping introduce Japanese literature to global audiences.