Order Of Rising Sun To Be Presented To Russian Conductor

The Japanese government has decided to award Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, former art director of the Bolshoi theatre, with the Order of the Rising Sun with Golden Rays for a great contribution to development of Japanese musical culture. The decisions to present state awards are announced once in six months in Japan: in spring and in autumn. Foreign citizens who made contribution to enhancing relations of their countries with Japan are awarded as well as Japanese citizen. Nina Naumova, a Russian teacher of flower design was awarded with a Japanese order for spreading traditional Japanese culture in Russia. Altogether 17 Russian and Soviet citizens have been awarded Japanese orders since 1957. Gennady Rozhdestvensky ranks 18th on this list. The Japanese embassy in Russia believes that rewarding of Rozhdestvensky will be promotive for mutual understanding between the peoples of Japan and Russia and strengthen friendly relations between the two countries.