Vice Dean of the Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science (RIIS) at Okayama University Professor Shen Jian-Ren was honored the 11th Midori Academic Prize on April 28, 2017 at the MIDORI Award Ceremony held by the Cabinet Office in Tokyo.

The prize is awarded by the Prime Minister to individuals in Japan with remarkable academic achievements in the fields related to “green” science, such as researches on plants, forests, greening, horticulture, ecology, landscaping or natural conservation, and development of related technology. By recognizing these achievements, the prize aims to deepen understanding of the importance of greening, forest conservation, ecology etc., widely among the public.

The ceremony was held at the Memorial Hall of Constitutional Politics (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) with the attendances of Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress of Japan. The heads of the three branches of government also attended, together with the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; and the Minister of the Environment. From Okayama University, President Hirofumi Makino, Vice-Executive Director and University Research Administrator (URA) Norito Satoh, Executive Advisor Shin-ichi Yamamoto attended.

Professor Shen won this year’s prize in recognition of his elucidation of the water-splitting and oxygen generation mechanism of photosynthesis at the atomic level. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was on a visit to the UK, so the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga presented the award on behave of the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The MIDORI Academic Prize (Cabinet Office):
http://www.cao.go.jp/midorisho/index.html (in Japanese)