Letter to the editor of general thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : Celebrating professor Yasunaru Kawashima's award of the Order of Culture: first recipient as cardiac surgeon.

Professor Yasunaru Kawashima was awarded the Order of Culture for the year of 2025. This marks　the first time to be given to a pioneer in the field of cardiovascular surgery, and is etched into the history of thoracic surgery in Japan. Through his long-standing academic works in cardiac surgery at Osaka University, Professor Kawashima has not only dedicated to establish the status of cardiovascular surgical outcomes as to the international level, but also introduced new surgical techniques for several congenital heart malformations where curative surgeries were previously undeveloped. Heart and lung transplantation from brain-dead donors had long been restricted in Japan. Through his tireless efforts, the medical and social infrastructure was developed to settle the Organ Transplantation Act in 1997 to resume the heart transplantation after over 30 years of absence.