The United States – Japan Foundation established its Distinguished Service Award in 2005. The award honors American and Japanese individuals for their lifetime commitment to promoting friendship and understanding between the peoples of the United States and Japan. The Foundation’s Board of Trustees selects award recipients and often makes a grant of approximately $10,000 to a US or Japanese not-for-profit organization in honor of the award recipient.
Recipients of the award include:
2019
Mr. Thomas W. Strauss
Chairman, Cowen Investment Management LLC
Former Trustee and Chairman of the Finance Committee
of the US-Japan Foundation
2017
Mr. Shigeaki Mori
Atomic Bomb Survivor, Historian and focus of the film Paper Lanterns,
for his work in researching American POWs held in Hiroshima during WWII.
2014
Dr. Kurt A. Gitter, MD, FACS
Ophthalmologist
Founder, Gitter-Yelen Art Study Center, New Orleans
2012
Dr. Ezra F. Vogel
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, Emeritus
Harvard University
2011
Mr. Minoru “Ben” Makihara
Senior Corporate Advisor and Former Chairman
Mitsubishi Corporation
2010
Honorable Robin Chandler Duke
Former Ambassador to Norway
Co-Founder of the US-Japan Foundation
Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda
Honorary Chairman
Toyota Motor Corporation
2009
Honorable Yasuhiro Nakasone
Prime Minister of Japan 1982-1987
2008
Ambassador Walter F. Mondale
US Ambassador to Japan (1993-1996)
Vice President of the United States (1977-1981)
Mr. Tadashi Yamamoto
JCIE, President and Founder 1970-2012
2007
Ambassador Yoshio Okawara
Japan’s Ambassador to the US 1980-1988
2005
Ambassador Thomas S. Foley
US Ambassador to Japan 1997-2001