Announcement of the Winner of the 22nd YAMAGATA BANTO Prize, 2007

OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Yamagata Banto is a world-class
self-taught scholar born in modern Osaka. Osaka Prefectural Government
established the Yamagata Banto Prize in 1982 in memory of Yamagata Banto and
the prize is awarded to honor outstanding publications and their authors for
their contributions to the introduction of Japanese culture in foreign
countries. This year the 22nd prize has been awarded to Edwin A. Cranston,
Professor of Japanese Literature, Harvard University, U.S.A. in commendation
of his work in researching Japanese classical literature, including the
publication entitled 'A Waka Anthology, Volume One'. The award ceremony will
be held and a commemorative lecture will be given in Japanese by Professor
Cranston in February.
Professor Cranston commented that, "Even in my wildest dreams, I had never
imagined that my love of many years for the poetry of Japan would one day be
acknowledged through the award of so meritorious a prize by the scholarly
world in the birthplace of that poetry."
Prize Winner
Prof. Edwin A. Cranston [Age 75] (U.S.A.)
Professor of Japanese Literature, Harvard University, U.S.A.

Prize Winning Works
"A Waka Anthology, Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup" and other works

Prize
One author shall be selected as prize winner and shall be presented with
the testimonial and prize money in the amount of Japanese Yen 3,000,000.
Personal History
-1932 Born October 18, 1932, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
-1954 B.A., University of Arizona
-1958-62 Graduate student in Oriental Languages, University of
California at Berkeley
-1966 Ph.D., Stanford University
-1972- Professor of Japanese Literature, Harvard University
-1981-85, 1986-87 Chairman of Department of East Asian Languages &
Civilizations, Harvard University
-July-August, 1985 Visiting Fellow, Australian National University
-1998-99 Visiting Professor at the International Research Center for
Japanese Studies in Kyoto

Awards
-1992 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of
Japanese Literature
-1994 Arasawa Prize
-2007 Lois Roth Award for a Translation of a Literary Work

Award Ceremony and Commemorative Lecture
Date: February 19, 2008 14:00-16:00
Venue: Rihga Royal Hotel

Past Year's Prize Works and Their Authors (Only the winners from U.S.A.)

1st (1982)
"World Within Wails" and other works/Dr. Donald Keene

6th (1987)
"The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature" and other
works/
Dr. Earl R. Miner
8th (1989)
"Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan: The Kaitokudo - Merchant Academy of
Osaka" and other works/Dr. Tetsuo Najita
10th (1991)
"Translation of The Tale of Genji" and other works/Dr. Edward G.
Seidensticker
11th (1992)
"Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration" and other works/Dr. Marius B.
Jansen
18th (1999)
Many years of contribution to Japanese literature and cultural history
studies and "Mo-hitotsu no chusei zo" and other works/Prof. Barbara Ruch
19th (2000)
"Extraordinary Persons" and series of works based on studies of Japanese
art/Prof. John M. Rosenfield
20th (2001)
"Embracing Defeat" and other works/Dr. John W. Dower

Yamagata Banto Prize http://www.pref.osaka.jp/bunka/banto/jusyo/banto.htm

Contact:
Yumi Miyake
Cultural Affairs Division
Department of Civic and Cultural Affairs
Osaka Prefectural Government
Phone: +81-6-6944-9140
Fax: +81-6-6944-6647
E-mail: bunka@sbox.pref.osaka.lg.jp

SOURCE Osaka Prefectural Government

Yumi Miyake, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of Civic and Cultural
Affairs of Osaka Prefectural Government, +81-6-6944-9140, (fax)
+81-6-6944-6647, bunka@sbox.pref.osaka.lg.jp