Prof. Koichi Hosoi, Senior Research Fellow at the Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University, has been awarded the prestigious Kyoto City Art Promotion Award (京都市芸術振興賞). The award ceremony took place on Thursday, March 27, 2025.

The Kyoto City Art Promotion Award is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing the arts in the city of Kyoto, particularly in areas such as nurturing new talent and improving the overall environment for art-related activities.

Prof. Hosoi's distinguished career spans a wide range of roles in academia and research. After completing his doctoral course at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Ritsumeikan University, he held several notable positions, including Professor in the College of Policy Science, Professor in the College of Image Arts and Sciences, Director of the Art Research Center, and Director of the Kinugasa Research Organization at Ritsumeikan University.

Currently, he is a Professor at ZEN University's Faculty of Social Informatics and serves as Director of the History of Content Industry Archives Research Center at the same university. Additionally, he is a councillor at the Consortium for Information Society in Kyoto.

Prof. Hosoi has focused his research on Japan's expressive cultural resources, ranging from ukiyo-e to video games. He views their long-term preservation and utilization as a societal process, and has worked to cultivate talent, institutions, and systems to better manage cultural resources

One of his most notable contributions is the "Game Archive Project (GAP)," which has been a comprehensive preservation initiative since the late 1990s, conducted in collaboration with industry, academia, and the public sector. Through his work, including lectures and mentorship for future generations, Prof. Hosoi has made significant contributions as a leading figure in the field of game studies in Japan.

Related link: https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/bunshi/cmsfiles/contents/0000338/338316/houdousiryou.pdf