Japan Just Gave Zelda’s Creator Its Highest Honor

On the same day this October, Japan announced that Shigeru Miyamoto will receive the Order of Culture, its highest cultural honor and the first ever for someone who makes video games, and in Paris, Eiji Aonuma was knighted into France’s Order of Arts and Letters. Two men who got into Nintendo by showing someone a toy they made by hand. This is how The Legend of Zelda went from a toy company to the Imperial Palace.

What was the first game that felt like more than a toy to you? Tell me in the comments.

CHAPTERS
0:00 From a coat hanger to the Imperial Palace
0:31 The Order of Culture
1:57 The toymakers
3:06 Quick thing
3:22 The Hyrule Fantasy
4:29 The puppet maker
6:15 Breath of the Wild
6:53 Commonplace
7:29 France
8:06 So when did games stop being toys?

MUSIC
Title Theme – Ocarina of Time
Great Fairy’s Fountain – Ocarina of Time
Overworld – The Legend of Zelda
Underworld (Dungeon) – The Legend of Zelda
Shop – Ocarina of Time
Water Temple – Ocarina of Time
Clock Town – Majora’s Mask
Outset Island – The Wind Waker
Main Theme – Breath of the Wild
Overworld – Super Mario Bros.
Zelda’s Lullaby – Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda Main Theme (25th Anniversary Symphony)

SOURCES
Order of Culture announcement and Miyamoto’s press conference: Famitsu, Denfaminicogamer, Inside Games (October 23, 2026).
Aonuma’s knighthood in Paris: Switch-Actu, Kotaku, and photos/video by Chloé Woitier (Le Figaro). Catherine Pégard’s “a storyteller who always leaves room for the player’s imagination” as reported by Kotaku.
The New Yorker, “Master of Play” (2010). Iwata Asks: Majora’s Mask 3D, The Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess. Denfaminicogamer interview with Eiji Aonuma (2017). Zelda Dungeon / Game Informer (2011). Nintendo 2016 interview (Nintendo Classic Mini). Nintendo IR sales data. TechRadar / Xbox Wire Japan (Hidetaka Miyazaki). VGC (Rachida Dati and the Clair Obscur developers).

FOOTAGE
The Legend of Zelda (NES) gameplay: Game Footage Archive (CC BY). Ocarina of Time gameplay: Jlatzss14, Emimi C. No Commentary (CC BY). The Wind Waker HD gameplay: Meikitamemo, ArgonMatrix (CC BY). Majora’s Mask gameplay: Emimi C. No Commentary (CC BY).
Also used with credit: Marvelous: Another Treasure Island gameplay (Runplays in HD), The Legend of Zelda game over (romtendo), Nintendo Ultra Machine TV commercial, 1975 (Nintendo, via Nintendo Memo), Space World 2001 Zelda trailer (Nintendo, archive: Unseen64), Space World 2000 demo (Nintendo, via noclip).
Official trailers and videos: Ocarina of Time remake, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Twilight Princess HD, Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo Museum Direct (Nintendo); The Game Awards 2017; The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Illumination / Universal / Nintendo); Super Nintendo World (Universal Studios Hollywood); Metroid Prime Remastered (Nintendo / Retro Studios); Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX (Square Enix / Disney); Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive).

PHOTOS
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY / CC BY-SA / public domain): Order of Culture medal (Cabinet Office of Japan, CC BY 4.0), Imperial Palace (Chris 73, Kirin Square, Stefano Vigorelli, GSI), Order of Culture ceremonies and recipients (1950, 1951, 1955, 1961), Akira Kurosawa, Yasunari Kawabata, Osamu Tezuka, Tetsuya Chiba (Cabinet Public Relations Office, CC BY 4.0), Kenso Soai (Valliappan Kannappan), Shigeru Miyamoto (Japan MEXT, CC BY 4.0; Vincent Diamante; Sklathill), Takashi Tezuka (Official GDC), Tezuka, Miyamoto and Kondo (Nico Hofmann), Eiji Aonuma (Jan Graber; Rich Lem), Hidetaka Miyazaki (Zion Grassl), Sonobe and Nantan (MLIT, Asturio Cantabrio, Matsuoka Akiyoshi), Kanazawa College of Art (HIrorinmasa), karakuri dolls (KKPCW), Nintendo Love Tester and Ultra Machine, Super Nintendo World (Japanexperterna.se, Jpatokal), Nintendo Museum (Nagomijirap, Nori Norisa), Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres insignia (X-trem0680).
Press photos: Shigeru Miyamoto, October 2026 (Denfaminicogamer / Nintendo); young Shigeru Miyamoto (Yomiuri Telecasting, via Time Extension); Eiji Aonuma in Paris (Chloé Woitier). Hiroshi Yamauchi, box art and posters via Wikipedia, Zelda Wiki and Mario Wiki (fair use). Tea table GIF via GIPHY.

The Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo.

#zelda #miyamoto #aonuma #nintendo

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