Awards Record

Science, technology, arts and philosophy

Kyoto Prize: winners and how it is awarded

The Kyoto Prize is presented by the Inamori Foundation, which Kazuo Inamori founded on 12 April 1984 with 20 billion yen of his own funds. The first laureates are listed for 1985. It honours one laureate each year in Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy, with 100 million yen per category.2,1,3

Awarded byInamori Foundation
Established1985
FrequencyAnnual, one laureate in each of three categories
Prize value100 million yen per category (as of 27 October 2026)

How the winner is chosen

Each year the Inamori Foundation chooses internationally recognised authorities in each category as nominators, and laureates are chosen only from officially nominated candidates. Selection Committees make a first screening, Prize Committees draw up ranked short lists, and the Executive Committee decides the laureates subject to approval by the Board of Directors. The three categories, Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy, each rotate among four fields.

Winners

  1. 2026Tsutomu Miyasaka1Advanced Technology, field of Electronics
  2. 2026Farooq Azam1Basic Sciences, field of Biological Sciences
  3. 2026Laurie Anderson1Arts and Philosophy, field of Music
  4. 2025Shun-ichi Amari1Advanced Technology, field of Information Science
  5. 2025Azim Surani1Basic Sciences, field of Life Sciences and Medicine
  6. 2025Carol Gilligan1Arts and Philosophy, field of Thought and Ethics
  7. 2024John Pendry1Advanced Technology, field of Materials Science and Engineering
  8. 2024Paul F. Hoffman1Basic Sciences, field of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics
  9. 2024William Forsythe1Arts and Philosophy, field of Theater, Cinema
  10. 2023Ryuzo Yanagimachi1Advanced Technology, field of Biotechnology and Medical Technology
  11. 2023Elliott H. Lieb1Basic Sciences, field of Mathematical Sciences
  12. 2023Nalini Malani1Arts and Philosophy, field of Arts
  13. 2022Carver Mead1Advanced Technology, field of Electronics
  14. 2022Bryan T. Grenfell1Basic Sciences, field of Biological Sciences
  15. 2022Zakir Hussain1Arts and Philosophy, field of Music
  16. 2021Andrew Chi-Chih Yao1Advanced Technology, field of Information Science
  17. 2021Robert G. Roeder1Basic Sciences, field of Life Sciences and Medicine
  18. 2021Bruno Latour1Arts and Philosophy, field of Thought and Ethics
  19. 2019Ching W. Tang1Advanced Technology, field of Materials Science and Engineering
  20. 2019James Gunn1Basic Sciences, field of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics
  21. 2019Ariane Mnouchkine1Arts and Philosophy, field of Theater, Cinema
  22. 2018Karl Deisseroth1Advanced Technology, field of Biotechnology and Medical Technology
  23. 2018Masaki Kashiwara1Basic Sciences, field of Mathematical Sciences
  24. 2018Joan Jonas1Arts and Philosophy, field of Arts
  25. 2017Takashi Mimura1Advanced Technology, field of Electronics
  26. 2017Graham Farquhar1Basic Sciences, field of Biological Sciences
  27. 2017Richard Taruskin1Arts and Philosophy, field of Music
  28. 2016Takeo Kanade1Advanced Technology, field of Information Science
  29. 2016Tasuku Honjo1Basic Sciences, field of Life Sciences and Medicine
  30. 2016Martha Craven Nussbaum1Arts and Philosophy, field of Thought and Ethics

Notable facts

The official laureates list shows no laureates for 2020.1

The first laureates listed, for 1985, are Rudolf Emil Kalman, Claude Elwood Shannon and Olivier Messiaen, with a Special Commemorative Kyoto Prize to the Nobel Foundation.1

Sources

  1. Inamori Foundation, Laureates (27 October 2026)
  2. Inamori Foundation, About the Kyoto Prize (27 October 2026)
  3. Inamori Foundation, About the Inamori Foundation (27 October 2026)