Eiji Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda series, has received the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government. The conferment ceremony was held nearly three years after the distinction was first awarded.
Chloe Woitier, deputy media and tech editor at Le Figaro, announced on X on the morning of the 23rd that Producer Aonuma's award ceremony for the Order of Arts and Letters took place at the French Ministry of Culture in Paris. The Order of Arts and Letters is an honor bestowed by the French Ministry of Culture upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of arts and literature, divided into three ranks: Commander (Commandeur), Officer (Officier), and Knight (Chevalier).
Producer Aonuma was designated for the honor in November 2023 by then-Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak, but the date for the ceremony had remained unscheduled until now.
According to Woitier, Producer Aonuma concluded his speech in French. Addressing his wife in the audience, he said, "Thank you for coming all this way with me. Let's continue our adventure together."
Producer Aonuma worked on titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and has served as series producer since 2007, leading games including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Previous game developers to receive the Order of Arts and Letters include Shigeru Miyamoto, Michel Ancel, and Frédérick Raynal in 2006, as well as Peter Molyneux in 2007. In February of this year, the development team at Sandfall Interactive, creators of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, was also named to the order.
On the same day in Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto was selected by the Japanese government as a recipient of the 2026 Order of Culture. The Order of Culture is an honor awarded by the Japanese government to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to cultural development, marking the first time a figure from the video game industry has received it. The conferment ceremony will take place on November 3.
