The is a Japanese photography award.
The award has been given every year since 1975 (except 1983) by the Asahi Shimbun Company, publisher of Asahi Shimbun and the magazine Asahi Camera, in honor of the photographer Ihei Kimura. It is given to one or more new photographers whose work has been exhibited or published during the previous year and is announced in Asahi Camera: its original name, soon shortened, was Asahi Kamera Kimura Ihei Shashin-shō .
The award is usually given to a single photographer. In 2000, the unprecedented awarding of three prizes, each to a female photographer, caused a stir.
Its major rival for attention in the mass media is the Domon Ken Award, given annually to a single photographer, usually one with a longer career than those who win the Kimura Award.
| year | photographer |
|---|---|
| 1975 | Kazuo Kitai |
| 1976 | Kōshichi Taira |
| 1977 | Shin'ya Fujiwara |
| 1978 | |
| 1979 | |
| 1980 | Tsuneo Enari |
| 1981 | Kanendo Watanabe |
| 1982 | Keizō Kitajima |
| 1983 | (no award) |
| 1984 | Keiichi Tahara |
| 1985 | |
| 1986 | Hisashi Wada |
| 1987 | |
| 1988 | Ryūji Miyamoto |
| 1989 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1991 | |
| 1992 | |
| 1993 | Yasuhisa Toyohara |
| 1994 | Mitsuhiko Imamori |
| 1995 | Masato Seto |
| 1996 | |
| 1997 | Kyōichi Tsuzuki |
| 1998 | |
| 1999 | |
| 2000 | Yurie Nagashima |
| Mika Ninagawa | |
| 2001 | Taiji Matsue |
| Rinko Kawauchi (for the books Utatane and Hanabi) | |
| 2002 | |
| 2003 | Tomoko Sawada |
| 2004 | Masataka Nakano (for the book Tokyo Windows) |
| 2005 | Ryūdai Takano (for the book How to Contact a Man) |
| 2006 | Naoki Honjō (for the book small planet) |
| Kayo Ume (for the book Ume-me) | |
| 2007 | Atsushi Okada (for the book I am) |
| Lieko Shiga (for the books Lilly and Canary) | |
| 2008 | Masashi Asada (for the book Asadake) |
| 2009 | Cozue Takagi (for the books Mid and Ground) |
| 2010 | Eiko Shimozono (for the book Kizuna)[1] |
| 2011 | Masaru Tatsuki (for the book Tohoku)[2] |
| 2012 | Arata Dodo (for the book Taigan) |
| Tomoko Kikuchi (for the exhibition I and I)[3] | |
| 2013 | Eiki Mori (for the book intimacy) |
| 2014 | Ryūichi Ishikawa (for the books Zekkei no Polyphony and okinawan portraits 2010-2012) |
| Kotori Kawashima (for the book Myōjō) | |
| 2015 | Takashi Arai (for the book Monuments)[4] |
| 2016 | Mikiko Hara (for the book Change)[5] |
| 2017 | Hiroko Komatsu (for the exhibition Jinkakuteki jiritsu shori and others)[6] |
| Aya Fujioka (for the book Kawa wa yuku and others) | |
| 2018 | Ai Iwane (for the book Kipuka and the exhibition Fukushima Ondo)[7] |
| 2019 | Mari Katayama (for the book GIFT and the exhibition May You Live in Interesting Times at the 58th Venice Biennale) |
| Daisuke Yokota (for the book Sediment and the exhibition Room. Pt. 1) |