Professor Akio Ogawa of the School of Humanities, has been awarded the Philipp Franz von Siebold prize for this year.
The Siebold prize is given to a Japanese researcher who has contributed to better mutual understanding between the cultures and societies of Japan and Germany while achieving excellent academic performance. Established by the Federal Republic of Germany, the prize marks its 31st anniversary this year, and is a prestigious award conferred upon just one person selected from a field of contenders representing every academic endeavor, including the humanities, social science and natural science. Professor Ogawa is the first prizewinner selected from Kwansei Gakuin University, and the award is the first in the field of linguistics.
Professor Ogawa specializes in Japanese-German contrastive linguistics and language typology. He studied abroad as a German government scholar (DAAD) from 1986 to 1988, and at the invitation Humboldt Foundation he stayed in Germany as a researcher from 1996 to 1997. In that capacity he gave numerous lectures, not only in Germany but in other European countries. In 2003 he was invited by Hamburg University to serve as a guest professor, and two years later he was awarded a prize from the Japanese Society of German Literature (Japanische Gesellschaft für Germanistik – JGG). He has presented various books and articles both in Japan and overseas.
The Siebold prize committee praised Professor Ogawa for his contribution to mutual understanding between Japan and Germany, as well as for his academic achievement in German language and linguistics. "I am happy to have contributed to mutual understanding between Japan and Germany through my work,” said Professor Ogawa. “I would like to continue working on the issues of our common humanity and cultural diversity through language research, and I hope to convey the results to the world.”
The official award ceremony will be held in Berlin Bellevue Palace on June 9, and President Horst Köhler, of the Federal Republic of Germany, will bestow the prize. The prize is 50,000 euros (approximately 6.5 million yen), and Professor Ogawa will be invited to stay in Germany for a one-year period of research.
