As the legendary creator behind Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, Yuji Horii’s contributions to the game industry have made him the first developer to receive Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette – a prestigious award granted by the government. After receiving the award on November 3, 2025, Horii shared the story of how he met one of his role models, manga artist Go Nagai, who just so happened to receive the same reward on that day.
Post translation:
This was over 50 years ago, during my final year of high school summer holidays. I was an aspiring manga artist, and with an unfinished manuscript in my hand I visited Mr. Go Nagai, hoping to become his assistant. Despite my sudden visit after phoning from Otsuka station, he kindly received me. Though I didn’t become his assistant, he was nice enough to give me his signature. I am profoundly moved to receive this award alongside him today.
According to the post, Horii applied as Go Nagai’s assistant back around 1975. Nagai had already made a name for himself then, providing the art and story for works such as Devilman, Mazinger Z, and Cutie Honey. Though Horii’s application was unsuccessful, he would go on to become a freelance writer for several publications.
Horii would eventually create Love Match Tennis, a Japanese home computer title, for a programming contest hosted by Enix. Love Match Tennis netted him a job at the company and inspired him to become a game creator. He would go on to create several titles, chief of them being Dragon Quest. While Horii didn’t make it as Nagai’s manga assistant, the rejection guided him down another path that would lead him to create some of the most iconic JRPGs of our time.
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Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii is 70 years old, but has no plans to retire yet
