Japanese mathematician Kashiwara Masaki has won this year's Abel Prize. The award, established by the Norwegian government, is sometimes called the "Nobel Prize for mathematics."
The 78-year-old project professor at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences of Kyoto University is the first Japanese person to win the prize.
Kashiwara expressed his joy at a news conference at the university on Thursday.
He said he was very surprised at being awarded. He also said he feels that more than 50 years of his studies were highly evaluated as a whole. He added that he was able to make his achievements thanks to his teachers and fellow researchers.
The Abel prize is known as an international prize for outstanding mathematicians, similar to the Fields Medal for young mathematicians.
The Norwegian academy that awards the prize says Kashiwara was chosen for his fundamental contributions to algebraic analysis, particularly the development of what is known as the D-Module Theory. It says he continued to find new approaches and create new methods to solve mathematical problems throughout his astonishing mathematical life.
Asked by reporters what mathematics is, Kashiwara answered, "Mathematics is beautiful." He said today's children are too obsessed with entrance examinations. He stressed that mathematics is something that you solve problems with using your own interesting ideas.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for May 20 at the University of Oslo.