Shigeru Miyamoto, Creator Of ‘Mario,’ Awarded ‘Person Of Cultural Merit’ Award From Japanese Government

Mario in Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo)

Legendary video game producer Shigeru Miyamoto just received the highest honors for a creator in Japan. The longtime Nintendo producer was given the “Person of Cultural Merit” award, an award given to people who have made great cultural contributions to the country and is officially handed out by the Japanese government. A total of 54 people, including Miyamoto, have been handed the award. A ceremony recognizing Miyamoto’s achievements will be held on November 5 in a Tokyo hotel.

Miyamoto said he wanted continue bringing smiles to people’s faces around the world and has no plans of retiring from Nintendo or video games anytime soon.

Miyamoto is widely recognized as the creative mind behind the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises, serving as designer, director and producer on a handful of titles in both franchises. He is also the creator of many other acclaimed Nintendo properties, including Donkey Kong, F-Zero, and Star Fox. The creation of Mario alone practically saved gaming from becoming an afterthought as it helped end the video game market crash of the mid 80’s.

Miyamoto’s last production credit was The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, which received widespread critical acclaim and praise since its 2017 launch on Nintendo Switch and Wii U. It reshaped the Zelda franchise into the modern scope, giving the franchise new life it was missing as time went on.

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During E3 2019, Nintendo confirmed that Breath of The Wild was getting a sequel. Soon after, it was reported that game producer Eiji Aonuma would return for the sequel. Miyamoto’s involvement remains unclear so far, but he should most definitely be involved in some regard. Either way Nintendo has many ideas for the next Hyurlian adventure and it started with Miyamoto over 30 years ago. He is finally getting awarded for his achievements not only for Nintendo, but for saving gaming as a whole.