The Nishina Memorial Prize (仁科記念賞) is the oldest and most prestigious physics award in Japan.

Information

Since 1955, the Nishina Memorial Prize has been awarded annually by the Nishina Memorial Foundation. The Foundation was established to commemorate Yoshio Nishina, who was the founding father of modern physics research in Japan and a mentor of the first two Japanese Nobel Laureates, Hideki Yukawa and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. The Prize, of ¥500,000 (about US$5,000) and the certificate, is bestowed upon young scientists who have made substantial contributions in the field of atomic and sub-atomic physics research. As of 2024, six Nobel Prizes have been awarded to prior Nishina recipients: Leo Esaki, Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Maskawa, Masatoshi Koshiba, Shuji Nakamura and Takaaki Kajita.

Laureates

Notable Nishina laureates are:

Nishina Asia Award

In 2012, the foundation established a parallel prize called the Nishina Asia Award. This prize was meant for "outstanding achievement by young Asian scientists" (outside Japan) in fundamental physics. The prize was given to one physicist each year.