Inamori Foundation Announces 2025 Kyoto Prize Laureates

For contributions to the betterment of humanity: 300 million yen in awards honors leaders in information geometry, genomic imprinting and the ethic of care

The Inamori Foundation announced the latest laureates of its Kyoto Prize, Japan’s highest private award for global achievement, in the categories of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy.  Complete details are online: https://www.kyotoprize.org/en

Each laureate will receive a diploma, a 20-karat gold medal, and a monetary award of 100 million yen (more than US$600,000) during the annual Kyoto Prize ceremony, Nov. 10 in Japan. Laureates will subsequently convene for the annual Kyoto Prize Symposium in San Diego, Calif. in March 2026, and the Kyoto Prize at Oxford events in Oxford, UK, in May 2026. 

Shun-ichi Amari will receive the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, specifically in the field of Information Technology, for his work on neural network dynamics and learning theory. His studies also elucidate our understanding of brain activity in perceptual systems such as vision.

Dr. Amari established a new academic field that he named “information geometry,” which considers statistical models and probability distribution, laying the foundation for the development of practical algorithms.

His research plays an essential role in the evolution of artificial intelligence.

Dr. Amari is the former Center Director of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, where he continues to serve as an Honorary Science Advisor, and Specially Appointed Professor at Japan’s Teikyo University.

Azim Surani will receive the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, specifically in the field of Life Sciences and Medicine, for his work in demonstrating how male and female mammalian genomes receive distinct imprints during germ cell development. Genomic imprinting introduced a novel concept to Mendelian genetics and is a now fundamental principle in the life sciences.

His research has contributed to developmental biology and epigenetics, along with a wide range of life science fields including physiology, regenerative medicine, reproductive medicine, and plant science.     

Dr. Surani is Director of Research at the Gurdon Institute and Professor Emeritus at University of Cambridge.

Carol Gilligan will receive the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy, specifically in the field of Thought and Ethics, for pioneering a new horizon for the “ethic of care” while pointing out the distortions and limitations of conventional psychological theories pertaining to women’s thoughts and behaviors.

By offering research-based insights into women’s moral reasoning, especially in contrast to men’s moral reasoning, Dr. Gilligan showed how women are more likely than men to prioritize human connections and seek solutions that preserve relationships. She called this relationship-oriented reasoning the “ethic of care” and contrasted it with the “ethic of justice,” which often entails imposing universal principles or rights, even forcefully, to resolve conflict.  Dr. Gilligan does not merely contrast these differently positioned ethical frameworks; rather her life work has been deeply concerned with an enmeshment of the two for a more fully realized understanding of human maturity and development.  Her work offers a new academic foundation for addressing global societal challenges like women’s empowerment and the welfare of the elderly and disabled.

Dr. Gilligan is a University Professor at New York University. She previously taught at Harvard University, University of Chicago, and Cambridge University.

About the Inamori Foundation and the Kyoto Prize

The Kyoto Prize is an international award bestowed by the non-profit Inamori Foundation to honor those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of humankind.  The Foundation was established in 1984 by the late Dr. Kazuo Inamori, who served as founder and chairman of Kyocera Corporation; founder and honorary adviser to KDDI Corporation; and chairman and honorary adviser to Japan Airlines. Inamori created the Kyoto Prize in line with his belief that a human being has no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of humanity and the world, and that the future of humanity can be assured only through a balance of scientific progress and spiritual depth.

Counting the 2025 recipients, the Kyoto Prize has honored 127 laureates worldwide — 126 individuals and one group (the Nobel Foundation). Individual laureates range from scientists, engineers and researchers to philosophers, painters, architects, sculptors, musicians and film directors. 

For more information, see: https://www.kyotoprize.org/en.