Every year, the King awards honorary decorations to people who are neither British nor Commonwealth nationals but who have made a significant contribution to relations between the UK and their own country. The Order of the British Empire was established by King George V in 1817 to honour those who had served in a non-combative role and expanded the Order to reward contributions to the Arts, Sciences, Charitable work and Public Service.
Kazumasa Kuwahara MBE
Kazumasa Kuwahara has had a long and distinguished career dedicated to furthering the close collaboration between the UK and Japan in the civil nuclear industry. In his time with Marubeni Utility Services, he played a leading role in supporting British Nuclear Fuels Limited and Japanese Utility companies in the UK's reprocessing of Japanese spent fuel. Since the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi, he has worked for the Japanese subsidiary of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, facilitating UK nuclear industry support to bring the best of British capability to Fukushima to help Japan in the clean-up effort. The UK-Japan relationship in civil nuclear continues to deepen and grow to our mutual benefit, and Mr. Kuwahara's long service to the UK has played a significant part in making this possible.
