The Japanese government announced that it will award composer Joe Hisaishi with a Medal of Honor. Specifially, Hisaishi will be granted the Purple Ribbon medal, which is used to honor individuals who contributed to academic and artistic developments, improvements, and accomplishments. Other recipients of the award this year will include Square-Enix chairman Yasuhiro Fukushima and Wild 7 writer Shunsaku Ikehata. A total of 678 individuals will receive Medals of Honor, with 558 of the recipients being male.

Joe Hisaishi is known internationally for his work on Studio Ghibli's films. Hisaishi worked on a majority of Ghibli's films, including Laputa: Castle In The Sky, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro. In addition to his Ghibli work, Hisaishi provided scores for various anime features, including Robot Carnival, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and The Wizard of Oz (TV).