People’s Honor Award Recipients
Society- English
- 日本語
- 简体字
- 繁體字
- Français
- Español
- العربية
- Русский
Honoring Society’s Heroes
Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo in 1977 established the People’s Honor Award to recognize widely respected individuals whose accomplishments have inspired society. It began as a way to celebrate professional baseball player Oh Sadaharu after he broke American slugger Hank Aaron’s career home-run record.
Recipients have hailed from the worlds of sport and entertainment, primarily, and have included professional and amateur athletes as well as singers, actors, and composers. To date 23 individuals have received the award, 12 posthumously, along with “Nadeshiko Japan,” the national women’s soccer team, whose members collectively became the first group to be honored after winning the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The most recent People’s Honor Award was given in 2016 to freestyle wrestler Ichō Kaori for becoming the first woman athlete in history to win individual gold medals at four consecutive Olympic Games.
Although the award is generally perceived as a high distinction, on several occasions nominated individuals have declined the honor. This includes baseball player Fukumoto Yutaka, tapped in 1983 after he set a new world record with 939 career stolen bases, and the family of Koseki Yūji after the renowned composer passed away in 1989. Baseball legend Suzuki Ichirō has turned down the award twice, once in 2001 and then again in 2004. On the first occasion, he gave the reason that, while he was honored, he was still in the midst of his career and developing as a player.
| Recipient [Occupation] | Date received (awarding prime minister) | Reason | Age at reception | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oh Sadaharu [Baseball player] | September 5, 1977 (Fukuda Takeo) | Set new world record with 756 career home runs | 37 |
| 2 | Koga Masao [Composer] | August 4, 1978 (Fukuda) | Accomplishments as a composer of songs with distinctive melodies | Posthumously |
| 3 | Hasegawa Kazuo [Actor] | April 19, 1984 (Nakasone Yasuhiro) | Accomplishments on the Silver Screen | Posthumously |
| 4 | Uemura Naomi [Adventurer] | April 19, 1984 (Nakasone) | Successfully scaled the highest peaks on five continents, and other accomplishments | Posthumously |
| 5 | Yamashita Yasuhiro [Judoka] | October 9, 1984 (Nakasone) | Outstanding career accomplishments | 27 |
| 6 | Kinugasa Sachio [Baseball player] | June 22, 1987 (Nakasone) | Surpassed Lou Gehrig’s world record of 2,130 consecutive games played | 40 |
| 7 | Katō Kazue (Misora Hibari) [Singer] | July 6, 1989 (Uno Sōsuke) | Inspired the nation through her songs | Posthumously |
| 8 | Akimoto Mitsugu(Chiyonofuji Mitsugu) [Sumō wrestler] | September 29, 1989 (Kaifu Toshiki) | Set record for most career wins | 34 |
| 9 | Masunaga Takeo (Fujiyama Ichirō) [Singer] | May 28, 1992 (Miyazawa Kiichi) | Gave hope and encouragement to society through his beautifully expressive singing | 81 |
| 10 | Hasegawa Machiko [Mangaka] | July 28, 1992 (Miyazawa) | Enriched and entertained postwar society through her comic strip Sazae-san | Posthumously |
| 11 | Hattori Ryōichi [Composer] | February 26, 1993 (Miyazawa) | Moved and inspired the public with his pop-music compositions | Posthumously |
| 12 | Tadokoro Yasuo (Atsumi Kiyoshi) [Actor] | September 3, 1996 (Hashimoto Ryūtarō) | Entertained and moved the public with his empathetic performances as Tora-san in the movie series Otoko wa tsurai yo | Posthumously |
| 13 | Yoshida Tadashi [Composer] | July 7, 1998 (Hashimoto) | Created emotionally evocative and inspiring songs with distinct melodies | Posthumously |
| 14 | Kurosawa Akira [Film director] | October 1, 1998 (Obuchi Keizō) | Contributed to domestic and international film through his numerous masterpieces | Posthumously |
| 15 | Takahashi Naoko [Marathon runner] | October 30, 2000 (Mori Yoshirō) | Become the first Japanese female track and field gold medalist by winning the 2000 Sydney Olympic women’s marathon | 28 |
| 16 | Endō Minoru [Composer] | January 23, 2009 (Asō Tarō) | Composed countless moving and inspiring popular songs | Posthumously |
| 17 | Murakami Mitsu (Mori Mitsuko) [Actor] | July 1, 2009 (Asō) | Appeared over 2,000 times in the leading role of the play Hōrōki (A Wanderer’s Notebook) | 89 |
| 18 | Morishige Hisaya [Actor] | December 22, 2009 (Hatoyama Yukio) | Outstanding career accomplishments | Posthumously |
| 19 | Nadeshiko Japan (Japan national women’s soccer team) [Soccer team] | August 18, 2011 (Kan Naoto) | 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions | Honored as team |
| 20 | Yoshida Saori [Wrestler] | November 7, 2012 (Noda Yoshihiko) | Wrestling in the 55 kg division, became the first athlete to win 13 consecutive world championships | 30 |
| 21 | Naya Kōki (Taihō Kōki) [Sumō wrestler] | February 25, 2013 (Abe Shinzō) | Dominated the sumō world, winning a (then) record 32 tournament wins | Posthumously |
| 22 | Nagashima Shigeo [Baseball player and manager] | April 1, 2013 (Abe) | Inspired postwar society along with Oh Sadaharu as a superstar of the Yomiuri Giants | 77 |
| 23 | Matsui Hideki [Baseball player] | April 1, 2013 (Abe) | Earned the Most Valuable Player award in helping the New York Yankees win the 2009 World Series | 38 |
| 24 | Ichō Kaori [Wrestler] | October 20, 2016 (Abe) | Wrestling in the 58 kg freestyle division, became the first female athlete to win individual gold medals at four consecutive Olympics | 32 |
(Information current as of June 2017.)