Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director Fellow at Nintendo, will receive Japan's Order of Culture. According to Japanese media outlets including the Chugoku Shimbun, the Japanese government decided on eight recipients for the 2026 Order of Culture on the 23rd, with Miyamoto listed under the field of "Media Arts (Gaming)."
Japanese media including NTV and the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Miyamoto's conferment marks the first time the Order of Culture has been awarded in the field of video games.
This Order of Culture is a separate distinction from the Person of Cultural Merit honor Miyamoto received in 2019. Recipients of the Order of Culture are chosen from among Persons of Cultural Merit. Miyamoto was named to the list of Persons of Cultural Merit announced on October 29, 2019, and has now been selected to receive the Order of Culture.
Born in 1952, Miyamoto majored in industrial design at Kanazawa College of Art before joining Nintendo in 1977. He subsequently gained global renown as the developer who created the "Mario," "Donkey Kong," and "The Legend of Zelda" series.
Miyamoto led Nintendo's game development after being appointed head of the newly established Information Development Section in 1983. He rose to General Manager of the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division in 1998 and Senior Managing Director in 2002, before stepping down as General Manager in 2015 to become Creative Fellow.
The other recipients receiving the Order of Culture alongside Miyamoto are Motoko Ishii (design and lighting), Toyo Ito (architecture), Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa (biological science), Tetsuya Shiokawa (French literature), Kenso Soai (synthetic organic chemistry), Shunichi Tokura (popular music and music copyright), and Shigekazu Nagata (immunology). The Order of Culture conferment ceremony is traditionally held on Culture Day, November 3.
