Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo designer behind Super Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, is one of eight people the Japanese government named on October 23, 2026, to receive the Order of Culture, the country’s highest honour for cultural achievement. He is the first person from the video game industry to receive it, according to GameBusiness.jp and Jiji Press. The decorations will be presented at the Imperial Palace on November 3, Japan’s Culture Day.

What happened

The government recognised Miyamoto for his contribution to culture in the media arts, specifically games. Famitsu notes that he was already the first games-industry figure named a Person of Cultural Merit, in fiscal 2019. Order of Culture recipients are usually chosen from people who already hold that designation.

Miyamoto, who is a representative director and fellow at Nintendo, spoke to reporters at the company’s Kyoto headquarters. Automaton reported that he described himself as honoured and credited the many collaborators behind his work, saying he accepted the honour on their behalf. Shacknews, citing Japanese reports, quoted him as saying he was “really glad I encountered games.”

The other seven people chosen this year come from science, design and the arts, according to GameBusiness.jp and Inven Global:

  • Motoko Ishii, lighting designer
  • Toyo Ito, architect
  • Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa, biologist
  • Tetsuya Shiokawa, scholar of French literature
  • Kenso Soai, synthetic organic chemist
  • Shunichi Tokura, composer, recognised for popular music and music copyright
  • Shigekazu Nagata, immunologist

Key facts

  • Announced: October 23, 2026, by the Japanese government, for fiscal 2026 (Reiwa 8)
  • Ceremony: November 3, 2026, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
  • Recipients: eight, from architecture, design, music, literature scholarship, chemistry, biology, immunology and games
  • Milestone: Miyamoto is the first video game creator to receive the Order of Culture
  • Earlier honour: Miyamoto was named a Person of Cultural Merit in fiscal 2019, also a first for the games industry

Background

Established in 1937, the Order of Culture is awarded each year to a small number of people for outstanding contributions to the development of Japanese culture, including the arts, sciences and technology. The decoration is bestowed by the Emperor in person. Past recipients include novelists, painters, kabuki actors, Nobel-winning scientists and sports figures.

Miyamoto joined Nintendo in 1977. He designed Donkey Kong in 1981 and went on to create the Super Mario and Zelda series. These games helped turn home consoles into a global mass medium and set many of the design conventions the industry still uses. In recent years, his characters have also reached cinema audiences through the animated Super Mario film franchise, and Nintendo has expanded into theme parks and a company museum.

Toyo Ito, another of this year’s recipients, won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013. Lighting designer Motoko Ishii is known for illuminating landmarks such as Tokyo Tower.

Perspective: why it matters

National honours show what a state considers part of its culture. For decades, Japan’s soft power abroad has rested heavily on games, manga and anime, while official recognition went mainly to classical arts, literature and science. Putting a game designer alongside a Pritzker-winning architect and leading scientists signals that the government now treats interactive entertainment as part of the national cultural record, not just an export industry.

The recognition also reflects a generational shift. People who grew up playing Nintendo games in the 1980s and 1990s are now in senior positions in government, universities and cultural institutions. Games are increasingly studied, archived and exhibited as heritage, and this award will strengthen calls in Japan and elsewhere to preserve early game software and hardware, much as film archives preserve early cinema.

India is relevant here too. Its own game industry is growing fast, mostly on mobile phones, and policy discussion there has focused on regulation of real-money gaming rather than on games as creative work. Japan’s decision is a useful reference point: it shows a country deciding that the best of its game design belongs alongside its literature and architecture.

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