A 46-year-old Malaysian was honored Wednesday with an award presented by Shiga Prefecture in recognition of his study on the ecosystem of fish living in a paddy field, prefectural authorities said.
Ahyaudin B. Ali, a professor of biological science at the University of Science, Malaysia, was awarded the 11th Biwako (Lake Biwa) Prize for Ecology, along with Jotaro Urabe, an assistant professor at the Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University.
Each received 5 million yen in prize money. The award is given to Japanese and foreign researchers who have excelled in studies of aquatic biology.
Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture is Japan's largest freshwater lake at 676 sq. km and is known as the "water jug" of the Kinki region.