Shigeru Miyamoto Awarded As “Person of Cultural Merit” In Japan

Shigeru Miyamoto has just been awarded the Person of Cultural Merit award, which is delivered every year in Japan for people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. 

Shigeru Miyamoto has just been awarded the Person of Cultural Merit award, which is delivered every year in Japan for people who have made outstanding cultural contributions (thanks, Wikipedia).

“I’m thankful that light is being shined upon the genre of games,” he said in response to receiving the award. “This is a job where you can’t do anything by yourself,” Miyamoto added, sharing the merit for the award to all of his colleagues at Nintendo.

Sonic’s creator Yuji Naka has also shared his impression and congratulations on Twitter, praising that this is the first time that a Japanese game maker gets awarded with such a big honor as a Person of Cultural Merit over there.

“Shigeru Miyamoto was selected as a Person of Cultural Merit. Congratulations! This is a first for the game industry, right? I’m really glad that people from the game industry are chosen now,” Naka shared on Twitter.

As you might know, video games are an important piece of the cultural puzzle in Japan, even though anime and manga are a lot bigger in terms of how they get recognized in the life of the country. So, having Miyamoto receiving this award is something massive, and we couldn’t be happier about that.

Shigeru Miyamoto to be recognized as a Person of Cultural Merit by Japan. In response, he said, “I’m thankful that light is being shined upon the genre of games.” Not forgetting his co-workers: “This is a job where you can’t do anything by yourself.” https://t.co/hWn7lBpNYM https://t.co/jLHVznLPoW

— Cheesemeister (@Cheesemeister3k) October 29, 2019