Joseph Needham was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prize on 3 Sep. 1990 at Fukuoka. He was the first prize-winner after the award was established in 1990.

This Special Commemorative Prize was granted ‘in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the cultivation and advancement of Asian culture and knowledge through studies on the history of science in China’. It was conferred by the City of Fukuoka and Yokatopia Foundation marking the establishment of the Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prizes.

Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-Djen travelled to Japan from 30 Aug. to 9 Sep. 1990, and were accompanied by Yuan Chün. Ushiyama Teruyo was part of the hosting group when they were in Japan.

The records include a correspondence file with administrative papers (including an itinerary of the visit to Japan), a file entitled ‘Fukuoka late letters’ containing letters of thanks for the visit, a file entitled ‘Japan 1990 [words illegible] Incidental papers and maps’ containing newspaper clippings reporting on the prize ceremony, copies of Joseph Needham’s lecture, papers and reports for the 2nd to 4th Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prizes.
The certificate is signed by Tadashi Nishitani (Chairman, Special Commemorative Prize Selection Committee), Keiichi Kuwahara (Mayor of Fukuoka City) and Tatsuo Kawai (Chairman, Yokatopia Foundation).

Photographs were sent by Ushiyama Teruyo, Hoshiko Akio and Yuan Chün. These have been catalogued with the travel photographs at NRI 2/10. They show the prizewinners for 1990: Joseph Needham, Akira Kurosawa, Kukrit Pramoj, Ba Jin, and Toru Yano.