Veteran Kabuki actor Matsumoto Hakuo and renowned painter Atsushi Uemura were among six people selected as this year's recipients of Japan's top cultural award, the government said Tuesday.
Other recipients of the Order of Culture are koto harp performer Shoin Yamase, 89, electrical engineering researcher Hiroyuki Sakaki, 78, fermentation researcher Teruhiko Beppu, 88 and Chinese history scholar Tadao Yoshikawa, 85.
Matsumoto, 80, a longtime actor in the Kabuki world, has also been active in musicals, movies and TV dramas. He starred as the main character of "Man of La Mancha," a musical inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' masterwork "Don Quixote," over 1,300 times including at a Broadway theater in New York.
Uemura, 89, is a leading figure in Japanese-style paintings of birds and flowers and has also been an advocate for the protection of cultural artifacts and practices. His grandmother Shoen Uemura and father Shoko Uemura also previously received the top cultural award as painters.
An additional 20 were selected as Persons of Cultural Merit, including pop singer and songwriter Yumi Matsutoya, 68, and retired shogi player Hifumi Kato, 82.
The Order of Culture award will be presented to the recipients at the Imperial Palace on Nov. 3, the country's Culture Day. A ceremony will be held for Persons of Cultural Merit recipients at a Tokyo hotel the following day.
