Culture Day and the Order of Culture Award
Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan - Culture Day. Many communities hold festivals or events to showcase Japanese culture and history with participants of all ages. Culture Day is observed on November 3rd and is not a happy Monday holiday. This year the holiday falls on a Friday, giving us a three day holiday weekend.
One important event of the day is the ceremony at the Imperial Palace where the Emperor presents the award for the Order of Culture. The award is given to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture. In addition to the award pictured above, the recipient also receives an annuity for life.
The badge for the order, which is gold with white enamel, is in the form of a Tachibana orange blossom, The central disc has three crescent-shaped jades. It is suspended on a gold and enamel wreath of mandarin orange leaves and fruit, and is on a purple ribbon to be worn around the neck.
I found it interesting that not everyone chosen accepts the award. I read that Kenzaburo Oe, 1994 Nobel laureate and critic of the Japanese Imperial system, and actess Haruko Suimura both declined the honor.
6 comments:
What I like about Culture Day is that there are a lot of cultural events around this time of November. I used to attend a lot of school cultural festivals.
You seem to have a lot of holidays. I like the concept of culture day and the award is a beautiful looking one.
Those who receive the medal will be invited to a garden party sponsored by the Imperial family, and will have the opportunity to directly exchange words with his majesty the Emperor and his wife and members of the Imperial family.
The Emperor, his wife and other members of the Imperial family make an effort to research and memorize the names and backgrounds of the people they invite, so that they can have a peaceful conversation with them.
Both the award winners and the members of the royal family are amazing.
This is a wonderful idea to have a culture day, it seems Japan is a really involved country with their people.
Catherine
Decline an award/honour? hmmm. that is interesting. enjoy the festivities
The badge is very pretty! I'm curious as to why some people reject the order when chosen.
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