PHILOSOPHY OF THE KYOTO PRIZES
April 12, 1984 In the 25 years since I founded Kyocera Corporation in 1959, Kyocera and I have done considerable work on ceramic materials, such as electronic ceramics, engineering ceramics, and structural ceramics. Today, I like to think that Kyocera has contributed in some small way to the development of the fine ceramics industry.
After more than a quarter-century of unstinted endeavor, and by the grace of God, Kyocera has grown to annual sales of ¥230 billion and pre-tax profits of ¥53 billion. Having attained this plateau, I feel it only appropriate that, in line with my lifelong belief that man has no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of humankind and all the world, I have endowed The Inamori Foundation with a gift of approximately ¥20 billion in cash and Kyocera stock so as to establish the Kyoto Prizes for recognizing some of those people who have contributed so much to scientific progress, cultural advances, and human betterment.
Recipients of the Kyoto Prizes must be people who evidence the same devotion to their work that Kyocera epitomizes-people who are sensitive to their own human fallibility, and who have a deeply rooted reverence for the universal spirit. Their achievements will have contributed significantly to mankind's scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment; and, perhaps most importantly, they must be people who have been sincerely motivated to improve the human condition.
There are thus two major reasons for my establishing the Kyoto
Prizes. One is that, in line with my belief that man has no
higher calling than to work for the greater good of all
humankind, I wish to show my gratitude to my fellow men for
having sustained and nurtured me all these years. The second
reason is that I would like to rectify the relative lack of
encouragement for dedicated people who do their research unsung.
In essence, I hope both to recognize these people's extraordinary
efforts and their outstanding contributions to science, culture,
and the arts and to stimulate them and others like them to still
greater heights. Mankind's future is assured only when there is a
balance between our scientific developments and our psychological
maturity. Today, we are rushing ahead with incredible scientific
and technological achievements while understanding of our
emotional and psychological development lags deplorably. There
are positive and negative sides to everything - the yin and the
yang, the light and the dark - and equilibrium can be maintained
only when there is balanced development and awareness of both
sides of this duality. An unhealthy emphasis on either side to
the detriment of the other can only result in upsetting the
natural balance and contribute to human misery. It is my hope
that these Kyoto Prizes will encourage balanced development of
both our scientific and our spiritual sides, and hence provide
new impetus toward the structuring of new philosophical
paradigms.
April 12, 1984
