earth science

Kiriyama Prize

Kiriyama Prize is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kiriyama Prize rather than just read about it. In short: The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region.

Key takeaways

Kiriyama Prize belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kiriyama Prize to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kiriyama Prize from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region. Established in 1996, the prize was last awarded in 2008. Winners include Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin, Luis Alberto Urrea, Piers Vitebsky, Nadeem Aslam, Suketu Mehta, Shan Sa, Inga Clendinnen, Pascal Khoo Thwe, Rohinton Mistry, Patricia Grace, Peter Hessler, Michael David Kwan, Michael Ondaatje, Cheng Ch'ing-wen, Andrew X. Pham, Ruth Ozeki, Patrick Smith, and Alan Brown.

Prize The prize was worth $30,000, split evenly between a non-fiction and a fiction winner. It was awarded by Pacific Rim Voices, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. For its first three years, the prize was given only to one book, either fiction or non-fiction. To be eligible, a book had to significantly concern some aspect of life or culture in one of the four Pacific Rim subregions: the North Pacific; Southeast Asia and the South Pacific; the Americas; and the Indian subcontinent. Books could be written in or translated into English from another language. Books were submitted by publishers by late October each year and were judged by separate panels of five judges, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. The decisions were made between November and February. Finalists were announced at the end of February, and the prize itself was given at the end of March. Judges included Alan Cheuse, Lauro H. Flores, James D. Houston, Sally Ito, Gish Jen, Chalmers Johnson, Nicholas Jose, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ruthanne Lum McCunn, Lisa See, Linda Spalding, Robert Sullivan, Gail Tsukiyama, Kathleen Tyau, and Jade Snow Wong.

Recipients 2008

Lloyd Jones — Mister Pip (fiction) Julia Whitty — The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific (nonfiction) 2007 The 2007 prize for fiction, awarded to Haruki Murakami, was declined by Murakami "for reasons of personal principle."

Haruki Murakami — Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (fiction) Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin — Three Cups of Tea (nonfiction) 2006

Luís Alberto Urrea — The Hummingbird’s Daughter (fiction) Piers Vitebsky — Reindeer People: Living with Animals and Spirits in Siberia (nonfiction) 2005

Nadeem Aslam — Maps for Lost Lovers (fiction) Suketu Mehta — Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found (nonfiction) 2004

Shan Sa — The Girl Who Played Go (fiction) Inga Clendinnen — Dancing with Strangers (nonfiction) 2002

Rohinton Mistry — Family Matters (fiction) Pascal Khoo Thwe — From the Land of Green Ghosts (nonfiction) 2001

Patricia Grace — Dogside Story (fiction) Peter Hessler — River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (nonfiction) 2000

Michael Ondaatje — Anil's Ghost (fiction) Michael David Kwan — Things That Must Not Be Forgotten: A Childhood in Wartime China (nonfiction) 1999

Cheng Ch’ing-wen — Three-Legged Horse (fiction) Andrew X. Pham — Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Journey through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (nonfiction) 1998

Ruth L. Ozeki — My Year of Meats (fiction)* 1997

Patrick Smith — Japan: A Reinterpretation (nonfiction)* 1996

Alan Brown — Audrey Hepburn's Neck (fiction)* (*) Note: Only one Kiriyama Prize, for fiction or nonfiction, was awarded in the first three years of the award: 1998, 1997, and 1996.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kiriyama Prize

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kiriyama Prize claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kiriyama Prize before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kiriyama Prize ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kiriyama Prize

In research: Kiriyama Prize appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kiriyama Prize in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kiriyama Prize is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American fiction awards, American non-fiction literary awards, Awards disestablished in 2008, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kiriyama Prize outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kiriyama Prize in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kiriyama Prize means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kiriyama Prize out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kiriyama Prize in simple terms?

Why does Kiriyama Prize matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kiriyama Prize?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kiriyama Prize.