Screenwriter Kudo, Others to Get Japan’s Medals of Honor

Newsfrom Japan

Politics

Nov 2, 2025 13:40 (JST)

Tokyo, Nov. 2 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government said Sunday that it will award Medals of Honor to 738 people and 24 organizations for autumn 2025, including popular screenwriter Kankuro Kudo.

The Medal with Purple Ribbon, an award for those with accomplishments in academics, sports, culture and arts, will be given to 17 people, including Kudo, 55, whose real name is Shunichiro Kudo.

In 2002, Kudo won the Japan Academy Film Prize in the best screenplay category for the film “GO,” released in 2001. He produced many hits, including “Amachan,” a Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) drama series that became a social phenomenon when it aired in 2013.

Other people chosen for the Medal with Purple Ribbon include Junji Sakamoto, a 67-year-old film director who received the 2001 Japan Academy Film Prize in the best director category for the film “Kao (Face).”

From the academic world, Yoshiko Ogata, 49, a mathematician and professor at Kyoto University, will also receive the Medal with Purple Ribbon.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press