"Father of Super Mario" Shigeru Miyamoto Selected for Japan's Order of Culture, First in Gaming Industry

Led development of Nintendo's flagship games... award ceremony set for Nov. 3

Shigeru Miyamoto, 73, the Nintendo game developer who created the globally popular game "Super Mario," has been selected to receive Japan's Order of Culture, becoming the first person from the video game industry to receive the honor.

Nintendo's Super Mario

Japanese media, including Kyodo News, reported on October 24 that the Japanese government announced the previous day that it had selected eight people, including Nintendo Representative Director and Fellow Miyamoto, to receive this year's Order of Culture.

The Order of Culture is conferred by the Japanese government on people who have made outstanding contributions to the development of culture, including scholarship and the arts. Since it was established in 1937, this is the first time someone from the video game industry has been selected to receive it.

Miyamoto is known as the creator of Mario, Nintendo's signature character. After joining Nintendo in 1977, he introduced a character called Jumpman while developing the arcade game "Donkey Kong" in 1981. He later renamed the character Mario and led development of "Super Mario Bros.," released in 1985.

"Super Mario Bros." became a global hit and established itself as one of the most successful works in video game history. Miyamoto later helped develop other flagship Nintendo game series, including "The Legend of Zelda" and "Pikmin," greatly influencing the global video game industry.

At a press conference held at Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto, Miyamoto said, "This wasn't something I made alone; it is the result of creating things together with many people. I feel that I am receiving the honor on their behalf."

He also expressed his gratitude that games have become part of everyday life and taken root as a form of culture.

This year's recipients of the Order of Culture also include Genso Soai, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science and a Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, and lighting designer Motoko Ishii.

The Order of Culture award ceremony will be held on November 3 at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.