Archive

2017
Obirame Restoration Group
environmental conservation
Obirame Restoration Group
Twenty years of continuous activities for protecting Japanese huchen, an endangered species of fish, in Shiribetsu
Akiko Yata
contribution to society
Akiko Yata
Commitment to spreading and developing the activities of community nurses, who promote good health in local communities
Start Line Tokyo
contribution to society
Start Line Tokyo
Approx. 30 years of activities for helping people with prosthetic limbs to learn the joy of running

2018

NPO Zenkoku Futoko Shinbun Sha
contribution to society
NPO Zenkoku Futoko Shinbun Sha
Twenty years of newspaper publication from an involved-party perspective that directly involves children struggling with school refusal
NPO Go! Fly! Wheelchairs
international contributions
NPO Go! Fly! Wheelchairs
Delivering wheelchairs to more than 80 countries across the world with the help of travelers for 20 years
Tatsuro Hamada
contribution to society
Tatsuro Hamada
Providing more than 100,000 servings of ramen at disaster areas across Japan and assisting persons with disabilities in finding employment

2017

Tatsukichi Shimizu
contribution to society
Tatsukichi Shimizu
Giving Gifts of Young Plants for 55 Years, Wishing for the Growth of Children and a Hometown Full of Flowers and Greenery
Barry-Joshua Grisdale
international contributions
Barry-Joshua Grisdale
Producing and Administrating a Useful Japan Tourism Information Website for Overseas Tourists with Disabilities
Katsuhiko Sumii
contribution to society
Katsuhiko Sumii
Protecting the Lives of Retired Racehorses and Supporting the Second Career of Medical Treatment and Education

2016

NPO Shuro Net Uji Mix Hearts
contribution to society
NPO Shuro Net Uji Mix Hearts
Contributing to employment support for people with disabilities through a baseball repair and recycle initiative
To-Kon Painters
contribution to society
To-Kon Painters
A group of painters that goes anywhere, at home and abroad, to volunteer for people in need of painting
Yoshimi Horiuchi
international contributions
Yoshimi Horiuchi
Spreading the joy of reading and learning words in Thailand where reading is uncommon

2015

NPO Japan Hair Donation & Charity
contribution to society
NPO Japan Hair Donation & Charity
Providing wigs at no cost to children who have lost their hair due to illness
Mitsuaki Yamasaki
environmental conservation
Mitsuaki Yamasaki
Running the Osakana Post to protect the ecosystem of the Tama River for ten years
Yoshikazu Shiraishi
contribution to society
Yoshikazu Shiraishi
Supporting self-reliance and the employment of truant students and socially withdrawn adolescents

2014

Hitomi Sakai
contribution to society
Hitomi Sakai
Helping people who require social assistance to secure housing to live independently and become part of a community for 19 years
Kinichi Honma
lifesaving
Kinichi Honma
An 87-year-old head lifesaver, protecting the safety of the sea for four decades
Ryotaro Harada
international contributions
Ryotaro Harada
Continuing support for former leprosy patients in recovery villages in China for ten years
Citizen Special Award
Ryoji Takayama
international contributions
Ryoji Takayama
A former Self-Defense Force official undertaking land mine clearance and providing reconstruction assistance in Cambodia

* Citizen Special Award

The Citizen Special Award winner was selected from 22 candidates (groups) based on the votes of 100 in-house selection committee members chosen from the Citizen Group’s employees.

2013

TOY Workshop Donguri
contribution to society
TOY Workshop Donguri
30 years of making original cloth toys for challenged children
Child's Angel
contribution to society
Child's Angel
Extensive collection of donations to make the children's dream come true, culminating in the gift of giraffes to a zoo
Chie Kaminakabeppu
self-actualization
Chie Kaminakabeppu
Enrollment in night school at an advanced age, and enthusiastic study and involvement in extracurricular activities

2012

Takaki Yoshimura
contribution to society
Takaki Yoshimura
Developing character input support and voice production programs for disabled persons and patients of an intractable disease causing voice loss and offering them for free
Tamae Watanabe
self-actualization
Tamae Watanabe
Keeping attempting to climb mountains while caring for the daily life and achieving the record of being the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest twice
Mami Rudasingwa
international contributions
Mami Rudasingwa
Obtaining a Prosthetist License and Providing Artificial Legs to Disabled Rwandans for Free for 15 Years

2011

Atsuyoshi Saisho
international contributions
Atsuyoshi Saisho
Approaches to educational support for high schoolers in Bangladesh through classes applying imaging technology
Tatsuyuki Takeuchi
contribution to society
Tatsuyuki Takeuchi
Over 50 years of preparing Braille transcriptions for students of schools for the visually impaired
Ruiko Sasahara
contribution to society
Ruiko Sasahara
Continued volunteer activities and care for the bereaved by an encoffiner in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake

2010

Morimatsu Yoshida
contribution to society
Morimatsu Yoshida
Keeping children safe on their way to school through half a century of crossing-guard service
Ryouto Yoshioka
self-actualization
Ryouto Yoshioka
Overturning the accepted wisdom on doodlebugs through summer-vacation observations and experiments
Tsuyoshi Higuchi
contribution to society
Tsuyoshi Higuchi
Overcoming cancer and inspiring other cancer patients and their families for 10 years with his own rakugo traditional Japanese comic storytelling

2009

Mikiko Yoshijima
contribution to society
Mikiko Yoshijima
Creating and delivering paper patterns for towel headwear for people concerned about hair loss due to cancer treatment
Mizuki Taira
self-actualization
Mizuki Taira
Serving as a source of inspiration by baking bread for rehabilitation
Yukio Shige
lifesaving
Yukio Shige
Created a consultation center to prevent suicides at the Tojinbo rock formation in Fukui; conducts patrols and helps people get a new start

2008

The late Kazuya Ito
international contributions
The late Kazuya Ito
Aiming to make war-torn Afghanistan green, worked to aid agriculture and befriended local residents
Kawasaki Owner-Driver Taxi Association
contribution to society
Kawasaki Owner-Driver Taxi Association
Has provided "taxi drive field trips" for children from facilities for the disabled for 30 years
Izumi Municipal Sho Middle School
environmental conservation
Izumi Municipal Sho Middle School
The entire school has continued activities to count cranes and keep official records of the crane population for half a century

2007

Isao Nishitani
contribution to society
Isao Nishitani
Has supported students' motivation to learn by donating to a middle-school night course for 50 years
High-school student volunteers who regularly clean train car interiors
contribution to society
High-school student volunteers who regularly clean train car interiors
On their own initiative, high-school students attending the same middle school pick up waste inside the train they ride home from school
Yuzo Tanigaki
international contributions
Yuzo Tanigaki
Has provided medical care in the field as a surgeon in South Africa for more than 25 years

2006

Koho Kawagoe
contribution to society
Koho Kawagoe
Has worked for 27 years as the disc jockey of a popular program broadcast inside prisons, making more than 300 broadcasts in total
Toshiko Kuwayama
international contributions
Toshiko Kuwayama
While assisting students in Sri Lanka, also realized her own long-cherished dream of graduating from high school
Satoru Arishiro
contribution to society
Satoru Arishiro
Through his own efforts, established a mobile petting zoo by accepting animals turned in to a koban police station

2005

Kenichi Hotta
contribution to society
Kenichi Hotta
For 26 years, has built by hand bicycles suited to the individual needs of people with disabilities
Kenjiro and Masaru Yoshino (father and son)
contribution to society
Kenjiro and Masaru Yoshino (father and son)
Has continued donating eyeglasses to elderly people in the community for more than 45 years, through three generations of parents and children
Employees of Nihon Spindle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
lifesaving
Employees of Nihon Spindle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
All employees worked together to rescue victims at the site of a train derailment on the JR Fukuchiyama Line

2004

Shingu Yamabiko ("Echo") Group
environmental conservation
Shingu Yamabiko ("Echo") Group
Has maintained the southern half (about 45 kilometers) of the Omine Okugakemichi (Kumano Kodo) pilgrimage route for 20 years
Volunteers from the Toyo'oka branch of the Hyogo Prefecture municipal pensioners federation
lifesaving
Volunteers from the Toyo'oka branch of the Hyogo Prefecture municipal pensioners federation
By helping each other reach the top of their submerged sightseeing bus, all members returned safely
Toshio and Sayoko Nagai (husband and wife)
contribution to society
Toshio and Sayoko Nagai (husband and wife)
Amid much concern today about the difficulties of raising children, the Nagais have raised 60 foster children

2003

Yumiko Takamatsu
contribution to society
Yumiko Takamatsu
After the tragedy of losing her oldest son, provides support for survivors of victims of crime who are undergoing similar ordeals
Marcia Akemi Endo
contribution to society
Marcia Akemi Endo
After learning that Brazilian children needed a school in Japan in the course of delivering boxed lunches to some of these children, reopened a Brazilian school that had closed due to lack of funding
Kenta Soga
self-actualization
Kenta Soga
Competed in the Summer National High-School Baseball Tournament at Koshien Stadium wearing a prosthesis below the knee

2002

Motoi Tanimura
contribution to society
Motoi Tanimura
For 35 years has continued sending handwritten postcards with words of encouragement to elderly people who live alone
Yayoi Takei
international contributions
Yayoi Takei
Has long worked as a doctor providing medical aid overseas, in places such as East Timor
Prosthesis and Orthosis Supporter's Association for Afghanistan
international contributions
Prosthesis and Orthosis Supporter's Association for Afghanistan
Produces prostheses and donates them to people in Afghanistan

2001

Akihiko Ito
contribution to society
Akihiko Ito
Travelled across Japan to record the recollections of 1,003 victims of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Masato Oshima
self-actualization
Masato Oshima
First in the world to discover an outburst of a WZ Sagittae-type dwarf nova, using his home telescope
Akira Sugenoya
international contributions
Akira Sugenoya
Worked as a thyroid surgeon treating victims of radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear accident

2000

Genri Kondo and Misako Kondo
contribution to society
Genri Kondo and Misako Kondo
Have opened their home to people with disabilities and spent time with them there on an ongoing basis for 38 years
Junko Association
international contributions
Junko Association
Continuing activities in support of education for children in Vietnam, across three levels
Welfare Atelier Aichi
contribution to society
Welfare Atelier Aichi
Designs and builds aids for people with disabilities, on an individual basis, that take into account the degree of their disability

1999

Midori Thayer and Masae Yonamine
contribution to society
Midori Thayer and Masae Yonamine
Opened a school for children of local mothers and fathers who are U.S. military stationed in Okinawa
Thomas C. Kantha
international contributions
Thomas C. Kantha
Repaired, reconditioned, and donated to his home country of South Africa 2,000 wheelchairs
Members of the recording group Koe ("Voice")
contribution to society
Members of the recording group Koe ("Voice")
Marking 25 years of recording newspapers and new books onto audiotape for distribution to people with visual impairments

1998

Yasuhiro Kishimoto
international contributions
Yasuhiro Kishimoto
Built a school in Nepal at his own cost and devoted himself to providing free literacy education for children
Satomi Kaneko and Shizu Yasuda
self-actualization
Satomi Kaneko and Shizu Yasuda
Crossed the islands of Japan by bicycle to raise awareness and understanding of donor cards
Members of Fukushi ("Welfare") Network Ikebukuro Honcho
contribution to society
Members of Fukushi ("Welfare") Network Ikebukuro Honcho
Uses sensors on electric water pots to protect elderly people living alone in the community
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