【Official Video】 Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's comments at the 2025 Awards Ceremony

Your Imperial Highness, Excellencies, Laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is always a joy to be here in Tokyo in the fall to celebrate the exceptional artists of our time and also the ties that bind Japan, United States, all the nations represented here together in special friendship. As we gather this evening, I find myself thinking about the late Robert Wilson, the visionary American theater director who was awarded in 2023 the Premium Imperiale at this very ceremony and then returned the following year. He passed away sadly last summer, but he said when he celebrated with us, what artists do is one of the few things that will remain in time. Artists are the diarists and journalists of the days in which we live. Politics and religion will always separate us, but art has the possibility of bringing us together. Today, his words resonate even more deeply. As we have already heard from our two prior advisors, we live in an age of noise and division. And we recognize that art is not just for beauty or entertainment, but it serves a central role in our society and in the common human experience. It is a powerful vehicle for diverse ideas and expressions that inspire us, challenge us, and heal us. Thanks to the Imperial family and the Japan Art Association for recognizing the critical role of the arts in culture, in our lives, sharing this planet for the last 36 years. This celebration is a cherished occasion because it reminds us of how important our common experiences are, far more important than what divides us. So congratulations and thank you to the 2025 laureates for what you are, as Bob Wilson said, the diarists and journalists whose works will endure to evoke what it is to be human in our time. An evocation and a reminder that we need now more than ever. Thank you.