Former CULCON panelist Susan Pharr is to receive the Japan Foundation Award for 2016, which recognizes individuals who through their artistic contribution or scholarship, along with their  work in promoting intellectual and cultural exchanges,  contribute to building ties between Japan and the rest of the world.

Previous awardees include Senator William Fulbright, originator of the Fulbright Program;  Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa; and writer Haruki Murakami. Scholars who have received the award include John Whitney Hall, Yale; Ronald Dore, Imperial College; Arthur Stockwin, Oxford; and Gerald Curtis, Columbia.
The award will be presented by the Foreign Minister of Japan in a ceremony in Tokyo in October.