Watanabe will receive the award in recognition of his leadership contribution to the company, which includes media properties across newspapers, magazines, book publishing and broadcast industries.
The 81-year old joined The Yomiuri Shimbun in 1950 where he was a political writer from 1952 to 1968. He spent three years as chief of the Washington bureau, before moving into a series of senior management positions, before taking on his current role in 2004.
