Highlights
- The Order of the Rising Sun, established in 1875 by the Japanese Emperor was Japan's first award.
- Punendra Jain heads Research & Academic Development with SAGE International Australia
- He is the former president of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia (2003-2005)
A professor in the Department of Asian Studies, Mr Jain's main research focuses on contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy.
"It is rare for the Japanese government to honour such a high award to a scholar who is not native to the country. This class of award has been given only to a handful of academics in Australia in the last two decades,” Mr Jain shared with SBS Hindi.
The award, ’Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ recognises Mr Purnendra Jain’s extensive contribution to the development of Japanese studies and the promotion of Australia-Japan relations and understanding towards Japanese society and culture.
The award Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ is the third-highest of six classes and is the highest level any ordinary citizen can receive. This is given to international national as the other top two are reserved for top political leaders, royalties and high-ranking public officials.
The design of the Rising Sun symbolizes energy as powerful as the rising sun, the "rising sun" concept of Japan ("Land of the Rising Sun").
The award is awarded to those who have made distinguished achievements in international relations, promotion of Japanese culture, advancements in their field, development in welfare, or preservation of the environment.
The modern version of this honour has been conferred on non-Japanese recipients beginning in 1981 and It is awarded in the name of the Emperor.
'Japan and Australia have a promising future'
Mr Jain said he sees a promising future for Australia and Japan’s cooperation on Hydrogen energy.
“Both the countries have clean energy targets and this partnership will consolidate close strategic ties,” he believes.
He said there had been a few hiccups in signing the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the two countries.
"There are a few issues primarily the idea of allowing its personnel to be brought to justice under Japan’s Penal Code where capital punishment exists whereas it has been abolished in Australia," he said talking about the bilateral relationship.
“At present, Japan has such an agreement with the US. RAA with Australia will be the first of its kind for Japan. It will streamline the stationing of military forces in both countries and further facilitate joint training activities," Mr Jain said.
Other than Adelaide University, Mr Jain is associated with SAGE International Australia, which is an independent, not-for-profit think tank dedicated to deepening the understanding of global strategic and political issues.
Mr Purnendra Jain has also researched and written extensively on Japan-India, Japan-South Asia relations, Australia-Asia relations; regionalism and regional institutions; energy and foreign aid issues, comparative studies of the politics and foreign policy of Japan, China and India.
He had been the co-convenor of the 9th International Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS9), Adelaide, 2015.
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