Anime director, shōjo manga pioneer to receive honor on May 12
The Japanese government announced the 3,875 recipients of the Spring 2026 Conferment of Decorations on Wednesday, and inducted Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and shōjo manga creator Machiko Satonaka into the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon class. The presentation ceremony will be held on May 12.
Tomino is arguably best known for creating and directing the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime in 1979. He had made his debut at Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Production where he worked on the first Mighty Atom (Astro Boy) television anime (1963-1966). He has since directed anime including Muteki Kōjin Daitarn 3, Space Runaway Ideon, Aura Battler Dunbine, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack, Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, Turn A Gundam, and Gundam: Reconguista in G.
The Japanese government honored Tomino as a Person of Cultural Merit in 2021. Tomino received the Tokyo Anime Award Festival’s (TAAF) Achievement Award in 2020. Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs gave Tomino the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs award in 2019. He was appointed as Odawara’s hometown ambassador in July 2021, and he received the Odawara Citizen’s Merit Award in February 2022. Tomino received the 71st annual Kanagawa Cultural Award November 2022. Tomino was inducted as a member of the Japan Art Academy in March 2025.
Image via The Mainichi
Satonaka made her debut in 1964 with the “Pia no Shouzou” manga when she was still in high school. She has created many more works with strong heroines since, including Lady Ann, Karyūdo no Seiza, Ashita Kagayaku, Tenjou no Niji, Yumeiro Kajitsu, and Aries no Otome-tachi.
She has served as a professor at the Osaka University of Arts, director of the Japan Cartoonists Association, director of the Manga Japan foundation, chairperson of the Digital Manga Association, and member of the Cultural Policy Promotion Council and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, among other roles. She has also won awards for her works and service, such as the Kodansha Manga Award and the Japan Ministry of Culture and Science Lifetime Works and Cultural Activities award. Satonaka was one of the recipients of the Person of Cultural Merit honor in 2023.
Sources: Yomiuri Shimbun Online, FNN Prime Online
