Hideo Kojima Receives Japanese Minister's Award for Fine Arts

screenrant.com:

Renowned game director Hideo Kojima was awarded the Japanese Minister’s Award for Fine Arts (Media Arts) today, making him only the second individual to earn the prize for work in video games. The award is given out annually and is bestowed upon Japanese individuals who have gone above and beyond in the field of art, and is considered one of the country’s most prestigious prizes in the world of entertainment.

Hideo Kojima has been working with video games since 1986 and has helped release some of the world’s biggest titles, most notably the Metal Gear series. Known for his abstract storytelling, Kojima worked for Konami for most of his career until he was suddenly let go from the company in 2015, much to the dismay of fans around the world. He would re-establish his studio, Kojima Productions, as an independent studio partnered with Sony. His most recent work, Death Stranding, was his first title released under the new partnership. While Kojima has received a number of accolades for his dedication to interactive storytelling, his work has mostly received recognition from those inside the video game industry.

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However, PCGamer reports that Kojima was chosen as the 2022 recipient of the Japanese Minister’s Award for Fine Arts (in the Media Arts category). The award, which is presented by the Japanese government’s Agency of Cultural Affairs, is the first such cultural prize bestowed upon Kojima in his career spanning 36 years. The only other video game creator who has won the award was Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto, who was behind some of the biggest franchises ever including Donkey Kong, Mario, and The Legend of Zelda. Miyamoto received the