International biology award ceremony resumes with Crown Prince and Crown Princess

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, December 16, 2022

Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko attended the award ceremony for the International Prize for Biology in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Last year’s prize-winner also received their award at the ceremony because last year’s event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The prize was founded in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Showa, who was also a biologist. It is awarded to researchers who have made world-class achievements in the field of biology.

The Crown Prince wished for the prize recipients to make further progress in their respective studies and said, “I pray that [studies in] the field of biology will be deepened even further.”

The ceremony was attended by Dr. Timothy Douglas White, 72, a paleoanthropologist and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who won the prize last year. This year’s recipient, Dr. Katsumi Tsukamoto, 74, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, was absent, and his wife received the prize on his behalf.