Seven recipients receive Japan’s Order of Culture at palace ceremony
Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto was absent from the Culture Day ceremony honoring the fiscal 2026 recipients.
Emperor Naruhito presented Order of Culture medals to seven of the eight fiscal 2026 honorees at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The ceremony took place on Japan’s Culture Day, following the government’s announcement of the recipients.
The absent recipient was Shigeru Miyamoto, 73, Nintendo’s executive fellow and representative director. His game creations include the Super Mario series.
Those attending included Kenso Soai, 76, a distinguished professor at Tokyo University of Science who has been named a Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner. Immunologist Shigekazu Nagata, 77, and biological science expert Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa, 84, also received their medals at the ceremony.
The other attendees were architect Toyoo Ito, 85; lighting designer Motoko Ishii, 88; French literature scholar Tetsuya Shiokawa, 81; and Shunichi Tokura, 78, a composer who previously served as Cultural Affairs Agency Commissioner. All seven attendees received their medals from the emperor.
