Shigeru Miyamoto Becomes First Video Game Designer Awarded Japan's Order of Culture

Shigeru Miyamoto is about to become a first for the video game industry. Next month, the 73-year-old Nintendo designer will receive Japan's Order of Culture, the country's highest honor for cultural achievement, making him the first game developer ever selected for the award, according to IGN.

The Order of Culture is presented personally by the Emperor of Japan and recognizes people who've made significant contributions to Japanese culture broadly, spanning science, literature, and the arts. Past recipients include filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, fashion designer Issey Miyake, and composer Akira Ifukube, best known for scoring Godzilla. Miyamoto will be one of eight people honored this year, with the ceremony set for November 3, Japan's Culture Day national holiday, as has been tradition in past years.

Speaking to press on October 23, Miyamoto struck a notably humble tone. "I feel incredibly awkward but truly honored to be selected for such a prestigious award," he said, adding that he doesn't see his work as a solo achievement. "As I often point out, I don't create games on my own. This award is the result of working together with a great number of people, so I will accept it on their behalf."

From Donkey Kong to a global cultural institution

Miyamoto joined Nintendo in 1977 and became one of the central figures in steering the company toward video games as its core business. He's most closely associated with Mario, who first appeared in 1981's Donkey Kong before becoming Nintendo's flagship mascot, but his fingerprints are on several of the company's other defining franchises, including The Legend of Zelda and Star Fox. He currently holds the titles of Executive Fellow and Representative Director at Nintendo.

In his remarks, Miyamoto framed the honor as something tied less to any single game and more to his longevity in an industry that didn't really exist in a defined form when he started. "50 years ago, I became involved in video games, a medium whose form was still very undefined, and I have been fortunate to continue in this line of work ever since," he said. "I feel like it's precisely because I've been here since the dawn of the industry that I'm being honored in this way, and think I have been incredibly lucky in life."

He also pointed to more recent work that's pushed his influence beyond traditional game development, including Super Nintendo World, the theme park attraction at Universal Studios, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. "Recently, I've been privileged to work with people from many different fields, not just games," he said. "I'd like to share the joy of this award with everyone."

Why this recognition stands out

Video games have spent decades fighting for the kind of cultural legitimacy that film, literature, and music secured long ago. Japan's Order of Culture has existed as a marker of that legitimacy for other mediums, with honorees like Kurosawa cementing cinema's place in the country's cultural canon. Miyamoto's selection extends that same recognition to game design for the first time, placing one of the medium's most influential figures alongside artists whose work has long been treated as foundational to Japanese culture.

It's also a recognition that arrives at a moment when Miyamoto's creations have increasingly moved off the screen and into physical and cinematic spaces, from theme parks to feature films, broadening Mario's reach well beyond the people who grew up with a controller in hand.

Nintendo hasn't announced further detail on the November 3 ceremony beyond confirming Miyamoto's place among this year's eight honorees. For an industry that's often had to argue for its own cultural seriousness, having one of its own stand in the same company as Kurosawa is a milestone worth sitting with.