JAPANESE IDEALS

Although still less well-known than its Swedish counterpart, Japan's version of the Nobel Prize continues to grow in reputation, thanks in part to its 'spiritualist' element, says DAVID McNEILL

HOW'S THIS for a wild party: anarchist and US foreign policy critic Noam Chomsky in the same room as American consulate officials, rich industrialists, the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra and the Japanese Emperor's sister-in-law. By all accounts, they got along famously.

Every November, Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto is the venue for a prestigious, if unusual, gathering where businessmen dine on sushi and Kobe beef and rub shoulders with politicians, scientists, philosophers, royalty and geisha.

The host is a Zen Buddhist monk who is also one of Japan's most famous entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

Although not as venerable or famous as the Swedish Nobel, the Kyoto Prize continues to grow in stature and reputation since being launched in 1985. This year, the award went to three very different innovators: computer scientist Richard Karp, microbiologist Anthony Pawson and moral philosopher Charles Taylor. Each took home a 20-k gold medal and a check for 50-million yen (€400,000), making it one of the richest payouts of its type in the world.

"Quite possibly it is the most important prize next to the Nobel," Karp told Innovationafter accepting the award in front of a packed audience.

British-born scientist Pawson, who pioneered the discovery of the molecular language through which human cells communicate, was more effusive: "What makes the Kyoto Prize extraordinary is that it is not just about past achievements, but also about the future and the betterment of mankind."

Cynics may scoff, but that was the original vision for the prize when it was founded in 1984 by Kazuo Inamori, founder of ceramics giant Kyocera Corporation. Inamori was determined to give his award a "spiritual" element, creating a separate category to cover "philosophy, ethics, thought and expression of human emotions" as well as the more conventional advanced technology and basic sciences.

"I am convinced that the future of humanity can be assured only through a balance of scientific progress and spiritual depth," he explained at the time.

That didn't stop him making sure that laureates were richly materially rewarded: Inamori's donations have helped raise the net assets of the Kyoto Foundation, which decides the winners and award the Prize, to nearly $780 million.

The company he started in 1959 today boasts a payroll of 67,000 and annual revenue of about $13 billion, making telecom equipment, printers and electronic devices in addition to its ceramics products. The firm is also one of the planet's top producers of chip components.

A graduate of applied chemistry, Inamori understood the value of scientific innovation, building a personal fortune by exploiting the then little-known niche of ceramic technologies. However, Inamori's ruthless business instincts were tempered by a distinctive humanism. Although a firm believer in scientific progress, he has lectured for years about what he describes as its dark side: "a deplorable lag in inquiry into our spiritual nature."

His philosophy was influenced by the real-life Last Samurai, Takamori Saigo (1828-1877), who led a doomed rebellion against Japan's government in 1877. Saigo bequeathed Kyocera's motto - "Respect the Divine and Love People" - which still hangs in Inamori's office.

The choice of that motto hinted at an early religious belief that was made explicit when Inamori became a full Zen Buddhist monk a decade ago, taking the name "Daiwa" or "Big Peace." His belief in the divine and in Buddhism makes him "one of the most humane and enlightened industrial leaders in the world," says Karp.

Inamori's expansive, philosophical side is reflected in the Kyoto Prize winners. Alongside physicists and computer scientists, such as Alan Kay (pioneer of the computer-user interface design) and Jack Kilby, (inventor of the integrated circuit), past recipients include Noam Chomsky (for cognitive science), celebrated liberal German philosopher Jurgen Habermas and British primatologist and pacifist Jane Goodall. In 2007 the Kyoto jury again surprised with a leftfield choice: surrealist German choreographer Pina Bausch.

In contrast to those luminaries, this year's Arts and Philosophy winner Charles Taylor, a Canadian political activist and advocate of communitarianism and multiculturalism, seemed a tamer choice.

However, as a man who has spent most of his life probing "the nature of a society that would enable people with different historical and cultural backgrounds to coexist happily with each other," said his Kyoto introduction, his work is perfectly in tune with Inamori's remit to reward spiritual depth. The award also recognised Taylor's attempt to bridge the divide between what he calls pure science and social holism.

"I believe my work has been driven by the need to understand the misinterpretations and miscues that plague humans - rather like the miscues in human cells," he said, referring to the work of Pawson, whose study of cell aberrations has revolutionised the treatment of cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

"I get a feel for this desire among the Kyoto jury to see progress in hard science linked to holism: the betterment of mankind," he says

Taylor, like Pawson, feels the Kyoto's best days are ahead. "The prize is not a household name yet, but it is becoming so," says Pawson.

"My sense is that the prize is more inclusive than the Nobel, and, in its way, more influential. The way I know that is that [after he was announced a winner] my e-mail inbox was immediately clogged from people congratulating me in a way that never happened before."

Pawson was struck by the significance of the host city. "Kyoto, home of the Kyoto Protocol, has become synonymous with what mankind needs to do to solve our problems."

Observers wonder what Inamori has in store for the prize next year when it celebrates its 25th anniversary. Now 76 and reportedly in failing health, he seems to be withdrawing from the business world. These days he devotes much of time to the Kyoto Foundation and to helping the development of small- and mid-sized enterprises. Despite half a century in business, he appears to remain convinced of the good in people.

"Didn't we all possess a pure and beautiful heart at one time?" he said recently. "Shouldn't we use those pure hearts again to rebuild the world?"

PAST AND PRESENT PRIZE WINNERS

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

George H Heilmeier(b.1936): an American engineer who pioneered the development of liquid crystal displays, which are now widely used in monitors and televisions.

George Whitesides(b. 1939): considered by many to be the world's greatest living chemist, holder of over 60 patents including several in micro fabrication and nanotechnology.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

William Hamilton(1936-2000): a British biologist, founder of sociobiology and one of the 20th century's most brilliant geneticists.

John Maynard Smith(1920-2004): revolutionised the study of evolution by examining it through the prism of Game Theory.

THOUGHT AND ETHICS

Karl Popper(1902-1994): a conservative Austrian/ British philosopher who, incidentally, has been heavily criticised by this year's winner Charles Taylor.

John Cage(1912-1992): legendary Avant-Garde composer and musician who famously tried to transform literature such as Joyce's Finnegan's Wake into music

2008 WINNERS:

Richard Karp(Advanced Techology): Born in 1935, Dr Karp's work in computer algorithms has had a "profound influence" on the guiding principles of computer science including software networks and integrated circuits, said the jury.

Anthony Pawson(Basic Sciences): Born in 1952, Pawson's work in "elucidating the fundamental molecular mechanism controlling cell growth" has been an enormous influence in "virtually all fields of biomedical research," and has been of extensive assistance in clarifying the mechanisms that cause cancer, diabetes and other diseases."

Charles Taylor(Arts and Philosophy): Widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Taylor (born 1931) has written extensively on "human agency, identity and the self, language, the limit of epistemology . . . and issues of ethics, democracy and religion," said the jury. "His work epitomizes the Kyoto Prize, said Shunichi Amari, chairman of the Prize's executive committee. "It contains truth, goodness and beauty."