Yukihisa Fujita awarded Order of the Rising Sun

Incoming DPIR Visiting Research Fellow Yukihisa Fujita has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, the second-highest Japanese order.

The award was made at the Imperial Palace last year for Yukihisa’s work as a Vice Minister of Finance, Member of Parliament and in humanitarian aid and reconciliation efforts both home and abroad for decades.

Yukihisa, who is currently Chairman, International Initiatives of Change Association of Japan will join DPIR as a Visiting Research Fellow in February 2025 for two years.

He wrote: 

“When I said to the Emperor that I would start as a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, he asked which college and on what theme. 

“I replied that it was at the Department of Politics and International Relations and on ‘Reviving Vanishing Democracy, Particularly in Japan’. 

“It was a rare honour to have this conversation with him and this assured me that it’s a divine opportunity to be based in Oxford.” 

Both the Emperor and the Empress studied in Oxford and made their Imperial visit there in June 2024.

Commenting on the announcement of his award, DPIR’s Head of Department David Doyle said: 

“The Department offers Yukihisa huge congratulations on his recent award of the Order of the Rising Sun at the Imperial Palace. 

“We are very excited to welcome Yukihisa here to Oxford in February as he begins his work on ‘Reviving Vanishing Democracy, Particularly in Japan.”