Awards

year	photographer
1975	Kazuo Kitai Kazuo Kitai is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
1976	Kōshichi Taira
1977	Shin'ya Fujiwara Shin'ya Fujiwara is a renowned Japanese photographer.-External links:*...
1978	Miyako Ishiuchi Miyako Ishiuchi , is a renowned Japanese photographer.Ishiuchi has produced collections of photography since the late 1970s. Her first book was a study of Yokosuka, where she grew up....
1979	Mitsuaki Iwagō Mitsuaki Iwago is a prominent Japanese wildlife photographer and filmmaker.-Biography:He is the son of Tokumitsu Iwagō, himself a noted wildlife photographer. After graduating from Hosei University, Iwago went as his father's assistant to the Galápagos Islands, where he decided to become a photographer. His work...  and Seiji Kurata Seiji Kurata is a Japanese photographer.-Career:Kurata graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1968. He taught in secondary school and worked in oils, printmaking, and experimental movies....
1980	Tsuneo Enari Tsuneo Enari is a renowned Japanese photographer.- External links :*...
1981	Kanendo Watanabe Kanendo Watanabe is a renowned Japanese photographer.- Notes :...
1982	Keizō Kitajima Keizo Kitajima is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
1984	Keiichi Tahara Keiichi Tahara is a renowned Japanese photographer.-Life and career:Keiichi Tahara was born in Kyoto. He learnt photography technique at early age by having spent his childhood close to the grandfather, who was a professional photographer....
1985	Kazuyoshi Miyoshi
1986	Hisashi Wada
1987	Ikuo Nakamura Ikuo Nakamura -References:*Nihon shashinka jiten / 328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers. Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. ISBN 4-473-01750-8. English language title; Japanese text....
1988	Ryūji Miyamoto Ryuji Miyamoto is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
1989	Hana Takeda and Michio Hoshino Michio Hoshino was a famous Japanese-born nature photographer. He originally hailed from Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.Called one of the most accomplished nature photographers of his era...
1990	Michiko Kon Michiko Kon is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...
1991	Toshio Shibata Toshio Shibata is a Japanese photographer known for his large-format photographs of large-scale works of civil engineering in unpopulated landscapes.Shibata was born in Tokyo. He graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in 1972 and an M.F.A. in 1974 in which he concentrated primarily on painting...
1992	Mitsugu Ōnishi Mitsugu Onishi Mitsugu Ōnishi is a Japanese photographer.Born in Tokyo, Ōnishi graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1974, rejoining a year later as a teacher, and staying there in that capacity until 1994....  and Norio Kobayashi Norio Kobayashi is a Japanese photographer.Kobayashi was born in Ōdate, Akita in 1952. He left Nippon Dental College in 1980, before graduation. He graduated from Tokyo College of Photography in 1983....
1993	Yasuhisa Toyohara
1994	Mitsuhiko Imamori Mitsuhiko Imamori is a renowned self-taught Japanese photographer. His work often involves insects but he is a naturalist at heart.-References:...
1995	Masato Seto Masato Seto -Biography:Seto was born in Udon Thani, Thailand, to a Japanese father and a Vietnamese Thai mother. He moved to Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in 1961, and studied photography at Tōkyō Shashin Senmon Gakkō , graduating in 1973. After further study under Daidō Moriyama, Seto became an assistant to...
1996	Naoya Hatakeyama Naoya Hatakeyama is a renowned Japanese photographer.Hatakeyama was born in Iwate, Japan in 1958. He graduated from the University of Tsukuba, School of Art and Design in 1981 and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Tsukuba in 1984.-Books:...
1997	Kyōichi Tsuzuki
1998	Takashi Homma
1999	Risaku Suzuki
2000	Yurie Nagashima Yurie Nagashima is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist working predominantly in the genres self-portraiture, portraiture, street photography and still life. In 2000, Nagashima was awarded the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award... , Hiromix Hiromix , better known as Hiromix , is a Japanese photographer and artist.-Biography:Born in 1976, Hiromix rose to fame in Japan after winning the 11th New Cosmos of Photography award, hosted by the photographic manufacturer Canon, in March 1995. Hiromix was nominated by Nobuyoshi Araki, one of Japan's...  and Mika Ninagawa Mika Ninagawa is a Japanese photographer known for her vibrant and brightly colored photographs of flowers, goldfish, and landscapes. She has enjoyed significant commercial success in fashion and advertising. She made her debut as a full length film director in 2007 with Sakuran...
2001	Taiji Matsue Taiji Matsue is a renowned Japanese photographer.-Awards:1996*Higashikawa Prize - New Photographer Prize 2002*The 27th Kimura Ihei Award, Asahi Shimbun Publishing Co.-References:...  and Rinko Kawauchi Rinko Kawauchi Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer, shooting mostly in 6×6 format. Her work is characterized by a serene, poetic style, depicting the ordinary moments in life....
2002	Yuki Onodera Yuki Onodera is a renowned Japanese photographer. She graduated from the Kuwazawa Design School in Tokyo. Now she lives in France.-Awards:* 2001, New Photographer Higashikawa Prize* 2002, Kimura Ihei Award* 2006, Prix Niépce- Publications :...  and Masafumi Sanai
2003	Tomoko Sawada
2004	Masataka Nakano
2005	Ryūdai Takano
2006	Naoki Honjō and Kayo Ume
2007	Atsushi Okada and Rieko Shiga
2008	Masashi Asada
2009	Cozue Takagi Cozue Takagi - Biography :Cozue Takagi was born in Nagano in 1985. She graduated from the photography department of Tokyo Polytechnic University in 2007.In 2006 she won the Daido Moriyama Award and the second prize at the Epson Color Imaging Contest for her series Selfcounseling...

The is a Japanese photographic award that attracts the attention of the mass media and book-buyers.

The award has been given every year since 1975 (except 1983) by the Asahi Shimbun Company, publisher of Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

and the magazine Asahi Camera

Asahi Camera

is a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....

, in honor of the photographer Ihei Kimura

Ihei Kimura

Born on 12 December 1901 in Shitaya-ku , Tokyo, Kimura started taking photographs when very young but his interest intensified when he was around 20 and living in Tainan, Taiwan, where he was working for a sugar wholesaler. He opened a photographic studio in Nippori, Tokyo in 1924...

. It is given to one or more new photographers whose work has been exhibited or published during the previous year and is announced in the April issue of Asahi Camera: its original name, soon shortened, was
Asahi Kamera Kimura Ihei Shashin-shō .

The award is given for achievement during the previous year and is usually given to a single photographer. In 2000, the unprecedented awarding of three prizes, each to a female photographer, caused a stir.

Its major rival for attention in the mass media is the Domon Ken Award

Domon Ken Award

The Domon Ken Award is one of Japan's most celebrated photographic awards.The award was started in 1981 by the Mainichi Newspapers to mark the 110th birthday of the Mainichi Shimbun, its daily newspaper and main publication, in honor of the photographer Ken Domon...

, given annually to a single photographer, usually one with a more solid background than those who win the Kimura Award.

External links

• Site within that of Asahi Shinbun.
• Edan Corkill, "Prize-winning photographers put medium's evolution in focus", Asahi.com, 20 May 2005. Exhibition review.