Inamori Foundation Announces 2026 Kyoto Prize Laureates
Awards to be presented Nov. 10 recognize contributions to perovskite solar energy technology, marine microbiology, and multimedia performance art
The Inamori Foundation announced the recipients of its 2026 Kyoto Prizes, Japan’s highest private awards for global achievement, in the categories of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy.
Full details are available online athttps://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 41st annual Kyoto Prize ceremony, Nov. 10 in Japan. Laureates will later convene for the 26th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium in San Diego, Calif. in March 2027, and the Kyoto Prize at Oxford events in Oxford, UK, in May 2027.
Tsutomu Miyasaka will receive the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, specifically in the field of Electronics for his contributions to the creation of next-generation photovoltaic technologies, including perovskite solar cells, opening a new frontier in high-efficiency photovoltaic energy conversion through solution-based coating processes. His innovation contrasts sharply with traditional silicon solar cells, the global standard for more than half a century. While today’s rigid silicon solar cells require a silicon layer about 100 microns thick, Miyasaka’s flexible perovskite-based solar cells function with a perovskite layer of just a few microns in thickness, or even less. Moreover, tandem solar cells combining perovskite and silicon have already surpassed 30% in energy conversion efficiency, substantially better than conventional silicon solar cells, drawing global interest as a way to accelerate renewable energy adoption.
Tsutomu Miyasaka is Project Professor from the Graduate School of Engineering at Toin University of Yokohama and is Specially Appointed Professor at Waseda University.
Farooq Azam will receive the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, specifically in the field of Biological Sciences, for his pioneering work elucidating the “microbial loop,” which has influenced our understanding of the ocean’s role in sustaining life and regulating the planet. Azam proposed the microbial loop concept in 1983 based on his findings that dissolved organic carbon, previously assumed to be lost from the marine food web, is instead recycled by bacteria and protists. Since then, the microbial loop has revealed the vital role of microorganisms in global biogeochemical cycles, especially the carbon cycle, leading to significant advancements in marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Azam continues to exert profound influence in areas ranging from the microscale ecology of marine microbes to biogeochemistry.
Farooq Azam is a distinguished professor emeritus at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Laurie Anderson will receive the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy, specifically in the field of Music, for her lifelong interdisciplinary pioneer whose performances merge her narrative voice, physical presence, and inventive electronic media. Anderson found her voice as a performance artist in the 1970s, under the influence of New York City’s contemporary art and music scenes. Her unexpected 1981 hit, “O Superman,” led to her 1982 album Big Science, bringing her into the pop sphere, while she continued creating ambitious multimedia works such as the eight-hour United States I-IV. Throughout the 1980s Anderson became a central figure in performance art, collaborating with creative luminaries like beat writer William S. Burroughs, composer Philip Glass, media artist Nam June Paik, and her partner, musician Lou Reed. Anderson’s self-designed instruments, technological experimentation, and explorations of media, science, and politics have influenced generations. Her recent works Landfall, Amelia, and To the Moon reflect her continued dedication to unbounded artistic innovation.
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.
