NJPW Legends Keiji Muto And Seiji Sakaguchi Honored By Japanese Government

When a public figure retires from their chosen profession, they usually recede from the public view, but that has not been the case for Keiji Muto thus far. Since retiring last week after matches with Tetsuya Naito and Masahiro Chono, Muto (aka The Great Muta) continues to be in the news. Today, Muto received another prestigious honor, along with a fellow wrestling legend.

In a special ceremony, Muto and Seiji Sakaguchi were honored by the Japanese government's ministry of education, science, and culture for a life of distinguished service in the sporting world.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling's website provided details on the ceremony, noting that the 81-year-old Sakaguchi wasn't present. NJPW President Takami Ohbari accepted the award in his honor.

"I'm deeply honored to accept this award," Sakaguchi said in a statement. "For a long time I worked in support of Antonio Inoki, and we worked to develop New Japan Pro-Wrestling and lead the wrestling business as a whole. I think those efforts are what's led to this award today and I hope that the wrestling industry continues to evolve and excel. Thank you very much."

While Muto is well-known to modern wrestling fans due to his storied career in Japan and occasional appearances in the United States, Sakaguchi, who was trained in part by the legendary Karl Gotch, began his career in the 1960s, originally working in the U.S. for the NWA. He joined NJPW in 1973 and worked there for the next 15 years, with occasional stops in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association and EMLL (now CMLL). He is best known for being the tag team partner of Inoki, the late NJPW founder.