Every Japanese Ig Nobel Prize winner (1992–2025)
The top 3 according to 14 votes from people: 2014, Physics: How slippery banana skins are · 1992, Medicine: Identifying the chemicals behind foot odour · 1997, Biology: How gum flavours change brain waves. (Updated Jan 23, 2026.)
The Ig Nobel Prizes honour research that "makes people laugh, and then think", and Japan wins almost every year. From the chemicals behind foot odour to Tamagotchi, Bowlingual, karaoke, slippery banana skins and zebra-striped cows: all the Japanese winning studies up to 2025, in order.
Automatically translated (original in 日本語). See the original
Top 31
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1
2014, Physics: How slippery banana skins are
Ig Nobel Prize for Physics, 2014.
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2
1992, Medicine: Identifying the chemicals behind foot odour
Ig Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1992.
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3
1997, Biology: How gum flavours change brain waves
Ig Nobel Prize for Biology, 1997.
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4
1999, Chemistry: S-Check, a spray to detect infidelity
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1999.
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5
2008, Cognitive science: Slime moulds that solve puzzles
Ig Nobel Prize for Cognitive science, 2008.
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6
2011, Chemistry: A wasabi fire alarm
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2011.
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7
2013, Medicine: Opera and heart-transplanted mice
Ig Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2013.
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8
2018, Medical education: Self-colonoscopy in a sitting position
Ig Nobel Prize for Medical education, 2018.
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9
2023, Nutrition: Electrified chopsticks and straws that change taste
Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition, 2023.
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10
2009, Biology: Cutting kitchen waste with panda-dung bacteria
Ig Nobel Prize for Biology, 2009.
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11
1995, Psychology: Pigeons trained to tell Picasso from Monet
Ig Nobel Prize for Psychology, 1995.
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12
1996, Biodiversity: Fossils of tiny "mini-species"
Ig Nobel Prize for Biodiversity, 1996.
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13
1997, Economics: Tamagotchi
Ig Nobel Prize for Economics, 1997.
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14
2002, Peace: Bowlingual, a dog-to-human translator
Ig Nobel Prize for Peace, 2002.
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15
2003, Chemistry: The statue that pigeons avoid
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2003.
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16
2004, Peace: Inventing karaoke
Ig Nobel Prize for Peace, 2004.
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17
2005, Biology: Cataloguing the smells of stressed frogs
Ig Nobel Prize for Biology, 2005.
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18
2005, Nutrition: 34 years photographing every meal
Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition, 2005.
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19
2007, Chemistry: Vanillin from cow dung
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2007.
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20
2010, Transport planning: Using slime moulds to design railway networks
Ig Nobel Prize for Transport planning, 2010.
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21
2012, Acoustics: SpeechJammer
Ig Nobel Prize for Acoustics, 2012.
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22
2015, Medicine: Kissing reduces allergic reactions
Ig Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2015.
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23
2016, Perception: Looking at things through your legs
Ig Nobel Prize for Perception, 2016.
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24
2019, Chemistry: How much saliva a five-year-old produces in a day
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2019.
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25
2020, Acoustics: An alligator's voice on helium
Ig Nobel Prize for Acoustics, 2020.
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26
2021, Kinetics: Why pedestrians sometimes collide
Ig Nobel Prize for Kinetics, 2021.
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27
2022, Engineering: How many fingers we use to turn a knob
Ig Nobel Prize for Engineering, 2022.
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28
2024, Physiology: Breathing through the anus
Ig Nobel Prize for Physiology, 2024.
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29
2025, Biology: Painting zebra stripes on cows to keep flies away
Ig Nobel Prize for Biology, 2025.
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30
2013, Chemistry: Why onions make us cry
Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2013.
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31
2017, Biology: Insects with reversed genitalia
Ig Nobel Prize for Biology, 2017.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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