JPNIC Chairman, Shigeki Goto, has been awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure (瑞宝小綬章) for his contributions to the Internet in Japan and the Asia Pacific region.
The Order of the Sacred Treasure, awarded by the Emperor, is one of Japan’s most prestigious awards recognising outstanding achievement in public service. The order was conferred on Prof Goto on 3 November 2020.
Shigeki Goto is Professor Emeritus of Waseda University and has been the Chair of JPNIC since 2005. However, his involvement in the development of the Internet in Japan began much earlier.
Prof Goto came in contact with ARPANET in 1984 as a visiting scholar at Stanford University, and after returning to Japan a year later he became an active member of JUNET, Japan’s university network.
As a professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Waseda University, he became one of the founding members of APAN in 1997 and served as chairman from 2004 to 2007. Prof Goto has been actively involved in the development of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for many years, beginning in 2001 as chairman of the Multilingual Internet Names Consortium (MINC).
He was also trustee of the Internet Society from 1994 to 1997, and was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2017.
“It is quite an honour to receive the Order of Sacred Treasure (Gold Rays with Rosette),” Prof Goto said. “The Order of Sacred Treasure is awarded to those engaged in Government Affairs and Public Service. Although it may seem obvious to those in the Internet industry and community that JPNIC’s business is fairly public, it is significant that this has been recognized by the Order. My assigned role in JPNIC’s business is small indeed, so the Order should be awarded to JPNIC as a group. However, it is awarded only to individuals, and that is the reason why I accept the award. Let me extend this opportunity to appreciate all those who have supported JPNIC.”
JPNIC has continued to play an important role in managing Internet resources and supporting Internet development in Japan for almost 30 years, since its establishment as JNIC in 1991.
APNIC would like to congratulate Prof Goto and JPNIC on receiving this prestigious award for many years of service to the Internet community in the Asia Pacific. We look forward to continuing to work alongside him and the team at JPNIC.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.