"Gundam" character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko won the 44th Japan Academy Award Special Award

Recently, the Japan Academy Awards, known as the "Japanese Oscars", announced the winners of the association's special awards. Mobile Suit Gundam character design and animation director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko won the grand prize, and two heavyweights in the film industry also won the award.

The Japan Academy Awards, also known as the Japanese Film Oscars, was founded in 1978 and hosted by the Japanese Academy Awards Association. It is the only award among the major Japanese film awards that is presented through a live television award ceremony. It has awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Topics Award.

The Japan Academy Awards Special Award is established to reward people who have made special contributions to the film production scene. The three winners of this year's Japan Academy Awards Special Award have been confirmed, namely "Mobile Suit Gundam" character design and animation director Yasuhiko Yoshi, senior stage art designer Ikebata Matsuo and Natomi Hisao, who has served as a gun instructor in many Japanese films. The official award ceremony will be held on March 9.