Overview of the Awards Ceremony for 21st Asia Pacific Research Prize

Overview of the Prize and Selection Process

The Asia Pacific Research Prize was established in 2001 to reward outstanding dissertations written in the field of humanities or social sciences about the Asia Pacific region. The dissertations are written by Japanese, international students and others who have completed post-graduate studies and received doctorates from Japanese graduate schools. This year we invited students who received their doctorates after March 2017 to compete for the prize. This includes students who completed their coursework without degree after March 2017, and then received their doctorates afterward. As a result of the strict selection process conducted by the Selection Committee on the theses recommended and gathered from graduate schools all over Japan, Dr. Toru Otani’s dissertation, “Study of Wuchang Gui：Process of Transition from Monster to God”, Dr. Rajiaben’s dissertation, “An Anthropological Study on the Transformation of Village Society and Life of Faith in Tibetan Amdo Region: A Case Study of BonSkor, Guinan County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China” were selected for a main prize and Dr. Le Wang’s dissertation, “A Media Historical Study of Pacification and Propaganda Activities in Rural Areas of Manchukuo” was selected for a Commendation.

Overview of the Awards Ceremony

At the Awards Ceremony on August 5 2022, the prizes were bestowed on the winners, Dr. Toru Otani, Dr. Rajiaben, and Dr. Le Wang by Awaji Conference Representative Director Satoshi Iue. Dr. Otani and Dr. Rajiaben received an award certificate and a prize of 1 million yen; Dr. Wang received an award certificate and a prize of 200,000yen, and each winner gave a speech. The 19th and 20th Asia Pacific Research Prize winners, whose award ceremony had to be canceled due to the spread of COVID-19, were then introduced, and each winner gave a speech. At last, the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Dr. Yutaka Katayama explained how and why the selections were made.