Japan Prize: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." It is presented by The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan. The prize consists of a certificate, a commemorative medal and a cash award of approximately 50 million yen (about USD$450,000). Only living individuals may be nominated for the prize.

A complete list of laureates:

• 2004 Kenichi Honda, Akira Fujishima, Keith J. Sainsbury, and John H. Lawton
• 2003 Benoît Mandelbrot, James A. Yorke, and Ogawa, Seiji
• 2002 Tim Berners-Lee, Anne McLaren, and Andrzej K. Tarkowski
• 2001 John B. Goodenough and Timothy R. Parsons
• 2000 Ian L. McHarg and Kimishige Ishizaka
• 1999 W. Wesley Peterson, Jack L. Strominger, and Don C. Wiley
• 1998 Leo Esaki, Jozef S. Schell, and Marc C. E. Van Montagu
• 1997 Takashi Sugimura, Bruce N. Ames, Joseph F. Engelberger, and Hiroyuki Yoshikawa
• 1996 Charles K. Kao and Masao Ito
• 1995 Nick Holonyak, Jr. and Edward F. Knipling
• 1994 William Hayward Pickering and Arvid Carlsson
• 1993 Frank Press and Kary B. Mullis
• 1992 Gerhard Ertl and Ernest John Christopher Polge
• 1991 Jacques - Louis Lions and John Julian Wild
• 1990 Marvin Minsky, William Jason Morgan, Dan Peter Mckenzie, and Xavier Le Pichon
• 1989 Frank Sherwood Rowland and Elias James Corey
• 1988 Georges Vendryes, Donald A. Henderson, Isao Arita, Frank Fenner, Luc Montagnier, and Robert C. Gallo
• 1987 Henry M. Beachell, Gurdev S. Khush, and Theodore H. Maiman
• 1986 David Turnbull and Willem J. Kolff
• 1985 John R. Pierce and Ephraim Katchalski - Katzir