| | 03 October, 2010
| Hebrew U. Prof. Shillony receives Japan Foundation Award | |
| Prof. Ben-Ami Shillony | |
Professor Ben-Ami Shillony of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been awarded a Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange, it was announced last week.
In the words of the Japan Foundation, Prof Shillony ''has made an immense contribution to the development of Japanese studies and to the promotion of intellectual exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Israel and other nations.''
Prof. Shillony is a professor emeritus of Japanese Studies at the Hebrew University and one of the leading experts on modern Japanese history, the Jews and the Japanese, and the symbolic role of the emperor in Japanese culture and history.
Born in Poland, Prof. Shillony immigrated to Israel in 1948. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1971, he taught Japanese history and culture at the Hebrew University for 35 years and was a research fellow at the universities of Tokyo, Berkeley, Oxford and Cambridge. He served as chair of the Hebrew University's Department of East Asian Studies and of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. In 2000, he was appointed the Louis Frieberg Professor of East Asian Studies. His numerous publications include Haha naru tenno [The Emperor as a Mother Figure] and The Jews and the Japanese: The Successful Outsiders. In 2000, the Emperor of Japan bestowed on him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star (Kun-nitō Zuihōshō).
The Japan Foundation Awards have been presented every year since 1973 to an individual or organization for significant contributions to the enhancement of mutual understanding between Japan and other countries through activities in an academic or cultural field.
The award will be presented to Prof Shillony at a ceremony in Tokyo on October 25, followed by an audience between Prof. Shillony, his wife Lena Shillony (professor emeritus of French literature at the Hebrew University) and the Emperor and Empress of Japan. On October 28, a commemorative lecture will be delivered by Prof. Shillony at the International House of Japan on 'Japan and I: New Prospects on Japanese Studies'.
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Downloadable File: ShillonyJapanFoundation.doc |
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