Who is Hiro Murai, the Tokyo-born director who made Emmy history?

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. He is the first director of Asian descent to win the category. | REUTERS

Sep 16, 2026

Tokyo-born filmmaker Hiro Murai has spent much of the past decade shaping some of American television’s most influential images. At Monday’s Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Murai received one of the industry’s top honors. He won Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!,” the premiere of Apple TV’s horror-comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

The victory made him the first Asian director to win that category in Emmy history and came during a dominant night for the series, which collected 14 trophies across the main ceremony and creative arts awards, setting a single-year record for a comedy. Murai also shared the show’s Outstanding Comedy Series win as an executive producer.

Speaking to reporters backstage, Murai reflected on the significance of the milestone

In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.