Guide dog enters Imperial Palace for 1st time

Guide dog enters Imperial Palace for 1st time

TOKYO, Japan - Emperor Akihito (L) speaks to Shinichi Fukushima (C), 74, a former chairman of an association of visually impaired persons in Kyoto, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 7 with Fukushima's guide dog, Luca, a four-year-old male Labrador Retriever, sitting by his side. About 600 recipients of this year's autumn honors, including Fukushima, met the emperor at the palace. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

Kabuki actor Jakuemon, 4 others receive Order of Culture

Kabuki actor Jakuemon, 4 others receive Order of Culture

TOKYO, Japan - Kabuki actor Nakamura Jakuemon receives an Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi watches at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 3. Jakuemon is one of the five persons to awarded the 2004 Order of Culture, Japan's most prestigious honor in the fields of culture and science. The four other recipients are Toan Kobayashi, an engraver, Shizuka Shirakawa, an authority on ancient Chinese culture, Horin Fukuoji, a painter of dynamic landscapes, and Yoji Totsuka, a physicist.

(1)Emperor decorates four with Order of Culture

(1)Emperor decorates four with Order of Culture

TOKYO, Japan - Four recipients of this year's Order of Culture pose (front, seated) with their spouses Nov. 3 at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. From L to R, they are poet Makoto Ooka, physicist Kazuhiko Nishijima, pathologist Wataru Mori, and former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata.

Nakane, 4 others to receive cultural awards

Nakane, 4 others to receive cultural awards

TOKYO, Japan - Social anthropologist Chie Nakane (photo) and four others will be awarded this year's Order of Culture, the government announces on Oct. 30. The other four recipients are electronics expert Hiroo Inokuchi, virologist Kumao Toyoshima, painter Tadashi Moriya and sculptor Toshio Yodoi. The five will be given the awards by the emperor at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 3, Culture Day.

Praemium Imperiale laureates meet the media

Praemium Imperiale laureates meet the media

TOKYO, Japan - Four recipients of this year's Praemium Imperiale prizes sponsored by the Japan Art Association sit for a joint news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 24. (From L to R) Jean Nouvel, Ornette Coleman, Marta Pan and Lee Ufan. Arthur Miller, a fifth recipient, was unable to come to Japan because of his wife's illness. The winners will receive their prizes in a ceremony in Tokyo on Oct. 25.

Japanese recipients of U.S. volunteer award visit Washington

Japanese recipients of U.S. volunteer award visit Washington

WASHINGTON, United States - Kiyotaka Tanaka (L), a second-year student at Rikkyo High School in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, and Tomoko Mori R), a third-year student at Shinoi Nishi Junior High School in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, who won this year's Prudential Volunteer Award pose for pictures May 9 during their four-day stay in Washington for a series of get-togethers and discussions with youth volunteer leaders in the United States. Tanaka, 17, and Mori, 14, were chosen for the prestigious award from among 1,500 Japanese entries.

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

TOKYO, Japan - Anthropologist Takeshi Umehara and four others receive this year's Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Culture Day on Nov. 3. The photo shows the five recipients and their wives. From L to R, novelist Hiroyuki Agawa, 78, organic chemist Saburo Tamura, 82, painter Fuku Akino, 91, law expert Masami Ito, 80, and Takeshi Umehara, 74.

Kabuki actor Jakuemon, 4 others receive Order of Culture

Kabuki actor Jakuemon, 4 others receive Order of Culture

TOKYO, Japan - Kabuki actor Nakamura Jakuemon receives an Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi watches at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 3. Jakuemon is one of the five persons to awarded the 2004 Order of Culture, Japan's most prestigious honor in the fields of culture and science. The four other recipients are Toan Kobayashi, an engraver, Shizuka Shirakawa, an authority on ancient Chinese culture, Horin Fukuoji, a painter of dynamic landscapes, and Yoji Totsuka, a physicist. (Kyodo)

Nakane, 4 others to receive cultural awards

Nakane, 4 others to receive cultural awards

TOKYO, Japan - Social anthropologist Chie Nakane (photo) and four others will be awarded this year's Order of Culture, the government announces on Oct. 30. The other four recipients are electronics expert Hiroo Inokuchi, virologist Kumao Toyoshima, painter Tadashi Moriya and sculptor Toshio Yodoi. The five will be given the awards by the emperor at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 3, Culture Day.

New Kobe hospital to halt liver transplant surgeries after 4 deaths

New Kobe hospital to halt liver transplant surgeries after 4 deaths

Photo taken April 14, 2015, shows the Kobe International Frontier Medical Center in western Japan. The hospital that opened last November in Kobe where four out of seven liver transplant recipients died in its first four months said on April 18 it will halt the operations for the time being. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

4 of 7 liver transplant recipients died at brand-new Kobe hospital

4 of 7 liver transplant recipients died at brand-new Kobe hospital

Photo taken on April 14, 2015 shows the Kobe International Frontier Medical Center in Kobe, western Japan. The hospital, which opened in November 2014, saw a very high death rate among liver transplant recipients in its first four months of operation, officials at the hospital said the same day. Of the seven patients who received the transplants from living donors, four died within one month after their surgeries. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Guide dog enters Imperial Palace for 1st time

Guide dog enters Imperial Palace for 1st time

TOKYO, Japan - Emperor Akihito (L) speaks to Shinichi Fukushima (C), 74, a former chairman of an association of visually impaired persons in Kyoto, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 7 with Fukushima's guide dog, Luca, a four-year-old male Labrador Retriever, sitting by his side. About 600 recipients of this year's autumn honors, including Fukushima, met the emperor at the palace. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

(1)Emperor decorates four with Order of Culture

(1)Emperor decorates four with Order of Culture

TOKYO, Japan - Four recipients of this year's Order of Culture pose (front, seated) with their spouses Nov. 3 at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. From L to R, they are poet Makoto Ooka, physicist Kazuhiko Nishijima, pathologist Wataru Mori, and former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata. (Kyodo)

Praemium Imperiale laureates meet the media

Praemium Imperiale laureates meet the media

TOKYO, Japan - Four recipients of this year's Praemium Imperiale prizes sponsored by the Japan Art Association sit for a joint news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 24. (From L to R) Jean Nouvel, Ornette Coleman, Marta Pan and Lee Ufan. Arthur Miller, a fifth recipient, was unable to come to Japan because of his wife's illness. The winners will receive their prizes in a ceremony in Tokyo on Oct. 25.

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

TOKYO, Japan - Anthropologist Takeshi Umehara and four others receive this year's Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Culture Day on Nov. 3. The photo shows the five recipients and their wives. From L to R, novelist Hiroyuki Agawa, 78, organic chemist Saburo Tamura, 82, painter Fuku Akino, 91, law expert Masami Ito, 80, and Takeshi Umehara, 74.