PurposeRegarding the "Sano Touzaburo Memorial Niigata International Food Award"The extreme inequality in the global supply and demand of food continues to make us worry, and the population of those who are unable to obtain the proper amount of food they naturally need to for their mental and physical welfare is increasing. The problems of overpopulation, climate change, soil erosion, water scarcity disaster and war and the impact they have on securing a steady food supply can be felt throughout the globe. Faced with this reality, we establish the Sano Touzaburo Memorial Niigata International Food Award to honor those whose achievements greatly contribute to the peace and wellbeing of the world by improving the supply and quality of food, or by improving our understanding of the role it plays in our health. With this award, we seek to eliminate poverty and starvation, and pray for a world where each person can live a life of health and dignity. About Niigata Niigata Prefecture, one of the regions of Japan, is situated in the middle of the center of the Sea of Japan coast, and has traditionally been a place where farming and food industries have flourished. With its renowned rice, Niigata has become one of Japan,s leading growers of food. Further, the prefectural capitol, Niigata City is located 300km north of Tokyo facing the Sea of Japan coast, and, with its many prosperous agricultural and fishing enterprises, is proud to be one of the foremost rural-type cities in Japan. The "Niigata", in the award title, symbolizes the pride we have for the excellence in every food-related field, from food production, processing and distribution, to food culture, research, and education, that has been achieved in this region. 
About Touzaburo Sano With a population of 800,000, much of Niigata City is composed of wetlands that sit below sea level, giving it a long history of suffering and struggling with the elements of water and earth. Touzaburo Sano (1923-1994), worked to transform numerous mud paddy fields, where the mud was waist deep, into more productive rice fields, thereby solidifying Japan,s food production foundation, and building future-oriented awareness. In addition, Sano also worked hard to improve farm production in China, where he played a large role in developing the San Jiang plain at the request of the Chinese government. We name the award after this great personage in our history, representing all those who worked to turn Niigata into a land of plenty.
Award SummaryThis award can be explained as follows. THE SEARCH FOR FOOD INNOVATORS CREATING A BETTER LIFE For the above objective, we will be gathering nominations for the award from nominators from Japan and the rest of the world from September through November. The established awards are as a general rule one "main prize" (an award certificate, a commemorative handicraft, and a monetary award of JPY ￥10 million), and as a general rule one "Tozaburo Sano Special Prize" (an award certificate, a commemorative handicraft, and a monetary award of JPY ￥2 million), and as a general rule two" The 21st Century Hope Prize" (an award certificate, a commemorative handicraft, and a monetary award of JPY ￥1 million). Candidates will be selected by a screening committee (Chairman/ Hideaki Karaki, Vice President of the Science Council of Japan), and the board of trustees will decide who the final winners are. The prizes are awarded once every 2 years, and the second award ceremony and commemorative lecture will be held in connection on 23th, 24th, 25th, of November in 2011. Theme "Food & Life" is the basic theme of our Awards. There are countless people residing across the globe who find their health and even their lives in peril because they are unable to secure enough food for themselves and the food they do have is non-nutritious, or even dangerous. We seek to honor those who are facing this reality, and saving lives, improving livelihoods, and restoring dignity in the field of food.
|
|
Niigata City Office Furumachi Annex 6F  |
  |