for National Geographic News
In the early 1980s Kazuo Inamori, a successful Japanese industrialist, grew disheartened by his belief that scientific and technical achievements were fast outpacing humankind's emotional and psychological development.
To bridge this perceived gap, he established the Inamori Foundation in 1984. The foundation sponsors the Kyoto Prizes. The awards come with a diploma, gold medallion, and check worth about U.S. $450,000. They recognize individuals or groups that have contributed to the world's scientific, cultural, and spiritual development.
The Kyoto Prizes are awarded in the categories of advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy. Since their inception, the prizes have been awarded to 63 people from 12 countries.
In a translated interview last week, Inamori spoke about the Kyoto Prizes and his vision for his foundation.
Why do you believe the Kyoto Prizes can help reconcile the imbalance you see between humanity's technical and its spiritual, or cultural, development?
Originally I had the background of an engineer. So I came up with the idea of advanced technology and basic science [prizes] to commend those researchers.
But when looked at in reality, we have a lopsided promotion and development of science and technology, which has left behind the humanity, or the spiritual aspect, of the human being. And science and technology seem to work independently, out of the control of the human being. So that is why I thought that the human spirit, or the mental being, seemed to be deteriorating.
In order to promote the spiritual aspects of the human being, I added one other category of art and philosophy—that means anybody who worked on behalf of the spiritual aspect, or the minds and hearts, of human beings. I wanted to commend those people. By so doing, I believe that we can enhance the spiritual level of human beings.
How have the current Kyoto Prize laureates contributed to the common human quest for international peace and harmony?
Indeed this is a very difficult question. Whether they are directly contributing to international peace in some manner, I am not aware of the specifics.
However, when you look at each of the three laureates for this year it is certainly true—absolutely true—that they have contributed wonderful humanity, or humane aspects of themselves, through their efforts in each of the specific fields.
Let me make the example of the Maestro Tamao Yoshida, who is the maestro in puppet theater. The puppets themselves are inorganic. That is, they are just material. However, instantaneously when Maestro Yoshida starts to manipulate and move the puppets, the puppets are full of life, as if we are looking at God's divine hand.
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