The Person of Cultural Merit is an honor and recognition awarded annually in Japan to those who make outstanding cultural contributions, the second highest cultural honor after the Order of Culture, and Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto is set to be recognized with the award. [Thanks, Sankei.]
The creator of the immensely popular Super Mario Bros. series is set to be recognized thanks to his contributions in spreading Japanese culture through video games loved around the world.
“I’m grateful to have this light shine on the genre known as video games,” said Miyamoto. “This is a job where you can’t do anything by yourself.”
Shigeru Miyamoto has worked on several major titles including The Legend of Zelda, and was a big figure in the Famicom boom. He attributes the global success of their games partially to the long history and cultural roots of Kyoto where the company is located. He looked back at how they’ve been able to focus on “Making what we think is fun” instead of following current trends.
The 66-year-old Representative Director of Nintendo added “I’ll continue giving my all for new things so that people won’t start wondering if it’s about time I retire. I want to bring smiles to everyone around the world.”
