Japan-born film-maker Hiro Murai becomes first Asian to win Emmy for comedy directing
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Hiro Murai poses with the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Widow's Bay during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Hiro Murai became the first Asian director to win an Emmy for comedy directing, honoured for his work on the series Widow’s Bay.
- Widow’s Bay won a record 14 awards at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
- Matthew Rhys made history by winning two Emmys for lead performances in the same year and across all acting categories.
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LOS ANGELES - Japan-born filmmaker Hiro Murai won an Emmy Award on Sept 14 for directing the comedy series Widow’s Bay (2026 to present), becoming the first Asian director to win in the category, the Television Academy said.
Murai, 43, directed five of the 10 episodes in the series, with the first episode receiving the award.
Born in Tokyo, Murai moved to Los Angeles at the age of nine and became a film-maker in the United States. He won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2019 for American singer-actor Childish Gambino’s song This Is America (2018).
Murai’s father, Kunihiko Murai, is a composer known for songs including Tsubasa Wo Kudasai (Please Give Me Wings, 1971).
Widow’s Bay is an American comedy horror television series set in a fictional town said to be afflicted by a curse. The series won a record 14 awards at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
British actor Matthew Rhys, who won the Outstanding Lead Actor award for the series, became the first person to win two Emmys for lead performances in the same year after also taking the honor for the Netflix miniseries The Beast In Me (2025), according to local media.
Combined with his 2018 win for The Americans (2013 to 2018), Rhys, 51, is also the first person to have won Outstanding Lead Actor honours in all three categories – Drama Series, Comedy Series and Limited or Anthology Series or Movie – local media said.
Canadian-American actor Michael J. Fox, known for starring in Back To The Future trilogy (1985 to 1990) and his advocacy for Parkinson’s disease research, received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, which recognises significant philanthropic contributions.
Meanwhile, The Pitt (2025 to present) won Outstanding Drama Series for the second consecutive year. KYODO NEWS