The Beast himself walked away with 2 awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award
Fighting games are booming once again in Japan, especially on the back of Street Fighter 6, and the scene is receiving some official recognition for their strides and accomplishments.
The Japan eSports Awards 2024 just took place earlier today where top fighting game competitors, its leagues and titles themselves won big — while having some laughs along the way too.
BST|Daigo Umehara may have been the biggest winner overall with The Beast himself taking home two awards for his recent and storied career accomplishments.
Firstly, Umehara was given the Live Entertainment Best Bout Award for his comeback against Yamaguchi during the Street Fighter League Pro-JP season last Fall.
More importantly, however, Daigo was also recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his 30 years of competing at a top level across multiple games and evolving the scene in a way around him.
日本eスポーツアワード2024
ライブエンターテイメント部門
ベストバウト賞ウメハラ選手のあの大逆転劇が見事受賞!
功労賞とあわせてW受賞となりましたこちらは取材を受けるウメハラ選手#SS熊本 pic.twitter.com/AQiv6g91pw
— 【公式】Saishunkan Sol 熊本 from 再春館システム (@saisys_esports) January 15, 2025
The legendary player is considered the first true pro fighting game player who was able to go full-time with a big sponsor back in 2010, which took him more than a decade to reach.
Similarly, Umehara seems to express how it can take a lot of time to be recognized and appreciated in general, not just about himself.
The multi-game god’s discussion of his career takes place starting around the 2 hour and 35 minute mark though it’s obviously all in Japanese.
And then we get the funny parts.
Daigo is not known for being very graceful in formal and professional settings like this, which was on full display here around the 2 hour and 39 minute mark.
A day before the event
Comment: You don’t have a suit right?”
Ume: Nyanshi asked me to be on the show, and he knew I didn’t have a suit. So he bought me one”
Comment: Then don’t forget your suit
Ume: Considering that, Ishii took it home (and will bring it to the event ) for me pic.twitter.com/xhrFXh5ZjL— HiFight(ハイファイト) (@HiFightTH) January 15, 2025
When called out for his nomination, Umehara awkwardly looks around and asks the host to point out where he’s supposed to stand and walk off to.
At the same time, the separate commentary desk was having a laugh at Daigo actually showing up in a suit, which was also comedically explained.
Umehara still doesn’t somehow apparently own a suit, so one had to supposedly be purchased for him and brought to the show so that he couldn’t forget it as translated by HiFight.
His acceptance speech begins around the 2 hour and 45 minute mark.
Beyond Daigo, his longtime rival Rohto|Tokido also walked away with a big score too.
なんとMVPをいただきました
本当にありがとうございます! pic.twitter.com/iChYwmGF2r— Tokido / ときど (@tokidoki77) January 15, 2025
He was given the Best eSports Player / Most Valuable Player of the Year Award, which likely tied back largely to his huge Capcom Pro Tour Japan Super Premier victory late last year.
Street Fighter 6 itself received the Best eSports Game Award with Producer Shuhei Matsumoto coming out to give a speech while the Street Fighter League was recognized with the Best eSports Tournament Award too.
◤日本eスポーツアワード2024◢
eスポーツゲーム賞
「ストリートファイター6」が受賞eスポーツ大会賞
「ストリートファイターリーグ」が受賞いつも応援してくださる皆さまのおかげです。
ありがとうございました。#スト6 #SFリーグ pic.twitter.com/a6ZX7dhlnS— CAPCOM eSports (@CAPCOM_eSports) January 15, 2025
Moreover, Tekken World Tour 2024 champion VARREL|Rangchu and other members across the fighting game community were given awards and recognition throughout the show.
We even saw Haitani and Kokujin appeared in another funny commercial together like they previously did last year around the 2 hour and 17 minute mark.
Esportアワード2024お疲れさまでした!まさかこんな素晴らしい舞台に立って受賞できるとは思わなかったです。
コメントの時も緊張しすぎて言いたかったこと半分も言えなかった
2025年は良い結果を求めるのはもちろん、鉄拳8を盛り上げるために色々と頑張っていきます!ありがとうございました。 pic.twitter.com/otKMKEMZv5— VARREL | Rangchu (@rangchu123) January 15, 2025
So overall, the Japanese fighting game scene had a huge presence across the whole awards show.
You can check out the full stream below for the Japan eSports Awards, which should begin with Daigo’s entrance.
Source: Event Hubs