Kabuki Actor Matsumoto Hakuo, 5 Others to Receive Japan Order of Culture

Tokyo, Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government said Tuesday it will grant the fiscal 2022 Order of Culture to six people, including kabuki actor Matsumoto Hakuo II, 80, and “koto” Japanese harp player Shoin Yamase, 89.

The government also selected 20 people as Persons of Cultural Merit, including contemporary dancer Saburo Teshigawara, 69.

It is the first time for such accolades to be given to individuals in the worlds of koto and contemporary dance.

The other four recipients of the Order of Culture are Hiroyuki Sakaki, 78, head of the Nara National Institute of Higher Education and Research and an expert on electronics, “Nihonga” Japanese-style painter Atsushi Uemura, 89, Teruhiko Beppu, 88, emeritus professor of zymology at the University of Tokyo, and Tadao Yoshikawa, 85, emeritus professor of history of Chinese thought at Kyoto University.

Other Persons of Cultural Merit include singer and songwriter Yumi Matsutoya, 68, and shogi player Hifumi Kato, 82.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]