FROM VIENNA TO TOKYO - Book - Page 24
THE BEATE SIROTA GORDON AWARD
This award was launched in honor of
Austrian-born Beate Sirota Gordon
(1923-2012), who helped draft
Articles 14 and 24 of the Japanese
constitution after World War II. The
articles gave women unprecedented
rights in marriage, family, and
society. Sirota Gordon’s legacy as
an advocate for women and emerging
artists is remembered to this day
in Japan and beyond, where she is
celebrated as a heroine of the
modern Japanese feminist movement.
an Austrian or Austria-based artist
in the field of gender equality
and women’s rights, by granting
financial support for the creation
of a new artistic or cultural
project in Japan, sponsored by the
Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo. It is
given out yearly on International
Women’s Day (March 8) and has a
special focus on supporting the
work of young and emerging artists
who explore the role of women and
gender equality in the context of
the 21st century.
The Beate Sirota Gordon Award
recognizes the accomplishments of
ABOUT BEATE SIROTA GORDON
Born in Vienna in 1923, Beate
Sirota Gordon spent her childhood
in Tokyo as the daughter of famed
pianist and music professor Leo
Sirota and his wife Augustine.
After completing her college degree
in California, Beate Sirota Gordon
traveled back to Japan in 1945 as
a translation expert for the U.S.
military, where, aged just 22, she
was invited to be part of General
Douglas MacArthur’s secret mission
to help draft the new Japanese
constitution after World War II.
Her legacy was enshrined as one of
the authors of Articles 14 and 24,
which provided unprecedented rights
to women in marriage, divorce,
property, and inheritance, laying
the foundation for further women’s
rights movements and making Ms.
Sirota Gordon a feminist heroine
in modern-day Japan. Beate Sirota
Gordon later joined the Japan
Society and Asia Society in New
York City, where she supported the
careers of many emerging, and often
female artists from Asia over the
following decades. Articles 14 and
24 of the Japanese constitution,
which Ms. Sirota Gordon helped
draft, are still in force today.
THE AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM TOKYO
The Austrian Cultural Forum (ACF) Tokyo is part of Austria’s international
cultural network committed to shaping an active international cultural
policy as defined in the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s International
Cultural Policy Concept. The ACF Tokyo acts as a platform for artists
from Austria in Japan and supports initiatives to present a unique image
of a contemporary, innovative and creative Austria. The ACF Tokyo is
committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
