Japan honors Eastwood, Maathai in spring decorations+

TOKYO, April 29 Kyodo - U.S. actor and film director Clint Eastwood and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai are among 70 foreign recipients from 32 countries of this year's spring decorations by the Japanese government, the Foreign Ministry
said Wednesday.

Maathai, 69, will receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun,
while Eastwood, 78, will be given the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with
Neck Ribbon.
Maathai, a Kenyan, is praised for her role in raising awareness among the
Japanese of environmental protection, putting forward the Japanese phrase
''mottainai,'' meaning, ''You should save it.''
Eastwood is hailed for boosting mutual understanding between Japan and the
United States through production of smash-hit, award-winning movies.
In 2006, he released two movies on a fierce World War II battle between Japan
and the United States -- ''Flags of Our Fathers'' and ''Letters from Iwo
Jima.''
The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun will also be given to Lamberto
Dini, 78, a former Italian prime minister, Nam Duck Woo, 84, a former South
Korean prime minister, and Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, a former Dutch economic
minister.
Brinkhorst, 72, served as ambassador and head of the Delegation of the European
Commission to Japan from 1982 to 1987.
The same award will be given to Joseph Sepp Blatter, 73, president of soccer's
world governing body FIFA. Blatter, a Swiss national, also serves as a member
of the International Olympic Committee.
Arden Bement, 76, director of the National Science Foundation of the United
States, will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star.
==Kyodo