“Dragon Quest” Creator Horii Recognized in Japan Autumn Honors

Tokyo, Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Monday released the list of 3,963 people recognized for this year’s autumn honors, including game designer Yuji Horii, known for the “Dragon Quest” series. Horii, 71, was chosen as a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, becoming the first game writer to receive this honor. Another recipient of the same decoration is manga creator Go Nagai, 80, whose real name is Kiyoshi Nagai, known for such works as “Mazinger Z” and “Cutie Honey.” The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers will be given to former House of Councillors President Hidehisa Otsuji, 85, and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Saburo Tokura, 71. The number of female recipients is 427, or 10 pct of the total. Novelist Setsuko Tsumura, 97, whose real name is Setsuko Yoshimura and who won the Akutagawa literary prize in 1965, is set to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, while Katsuko Sato, 81, an educationist and emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, was chosen to receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. Six people are set to receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, including former Kumamoto Governor Ikuo Kabashima, 78, former state agriculture minister Taku Yamamoto, 73, whose real name is Taku Takaichi, former internal affairs minister Heizo Takenaka, 74, and former Mizuho Financial Group Inc. President Terunobu Maeda, 80. Three were chosen for the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, including former Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kazuyuki Furuya, 70, and former Vice Finance Minister Toshiro Muto, 82. The list also includes 104 foreign nationals from 53 countries and regions. Among them are former Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, 75, and Hsieh Chang-ting, 79, former head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, both of whom are set to receive the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. Grand cordon winners are slated to receive the decorations at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 11. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]