The Japanese government announced Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and manga creator Moto Hagio as two recepients of this year’s Person of Cultural Merit honor on Tuesday.
Manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto (Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999) also received the Person of Cultural Merit honor in 2001, and fellow manga creator Shigeru Mizuki (GeGeGe no Kitarō) received the same honor in 2010.
Hagio is a pioneer of shōjo and shōnen-ai manga, and her works helped establish conventions of these and other fields.
Hagio’s They Were Eleven, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, A,A’, The Heart of Thomas, and Otherworld Barbara manga have English releases.