This year the ex-head of Japanese Studies Centre Mr. Arvydas Ališauskas has been awarded by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan for the development of Japanese language studies in Lithuania. On October 10th the award ceremony took place in Vilnius, in the residence of the ambassador of Japan H. E. Miyoko Akashi. This is the third award of this kind in Lithuanian history.

Since 1969 Arvydas Ališauskas has been the first translator in Lithuania, who translated Japanese literature directly from Japanese language. He is the translator of such Japanese authors as  Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, Ogawa Pimei, Rieko Nakagawa, Miyoko Matsutani, Sachiko Hatanaka.  Starting from the year 1995 he taught Japanese language and a theoretical course “Japanese way of thinking and ethics” in Vytautas Magnus University, as well as consulted about the specifics of Japanese business. Under his initiative in 2001 Japanese Studies Centre was established. Mr. Ališauskas became the head of the newly established Japanese Studies Centre and continued this activity until 2008. He is considered to be the initiator of Japanology in Kaunas.

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