The is given annually by the Nikon Salon, an organization of exhibition spaces in Japan that is sponsored by Nikon Corporation. The award was started in 1976; it is named in honor of , a photography critic who headed the Nikon Salon from 1968 until his death in 1978.
The award is given to the photographer of what is judged to have been the most outstanding exhibition held in a Nikon Salon within the year running from October through September. As of 2014, the award consists of a statuette, one million yen, and a Nikon D4S camera body and lenses (AF-S NIKKOR 50mm F1.4G).
Recipients +Awards Year Photographer 1 1976 Gashō Yamamura 2 1977 Masahisa Fukase 3 1978 Hiromi Tsuchida 4 1979 Satoshi Kuribayashi 5 1980 Bishin Jumonji 6 1981 Meitoku Itō 7 1982 Shinzō Hanabusa, Shisei Kuwabara 8 1983 Gorō Nakamura 9 1984 Akihisa Masuda 10 1985 Masao Gozu 11 1986 Shigeichi Nagano 12 1987 Ichirō Tsuda 13 1988 Hiroh Kikai 14 1989 Noriaki Yokosuka 15 1990 Chuyung Yoon 16 1991 Akihiro Sakaki (ja) 17 1992 Kiyoshi Suzuki 18 1993 Kunihiro Suzuki 19 1994 Eimu Arino 20 1995 Hiromi Eguchi 21 1996 Yoshikazu Minami 22 1997 Michio Yamauchi 23 1998 Dale Caruso 24 1999 Shunji Dodo 25 2000 Hideaki Uchiyama (ja) 26 2001 Hiroshi Yamazaki 27 2002 Seiichi Furuya 28 2003 Hiroshi Ōshima 29 2004 Kiyotaka Shishito 30 2005 Nobuo Shimose 31 2006 Chihiro Minato 32 2007 Keizō Kitajima 33 2008 Kenshichi Heshiki 34 2009 Jun'ichi Ōta352010 Hitoshi Fugo362011 Yi Sangil372012 Brian Y. Sato382013 Kōgorō Suzuki392014 Osamu Kanemura
Bibliography Ina-Nobuo-shō 20nen () / Ina Nobuo Award '76-'95. "Nikon Salon Books 23." Tokyo: Nikon, 1996. An excellently-printed selection of the award-winning works. Text in Japanese only.
External links Nikon's page about the award (In Japanese). There is a subpage for each year's award.