"The Sting of Death" won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where it was also nominated for the Golden Palm. In that year it also won the Hochi Film Award and the Nikkan Sports Film Award. In 1991 the film won the Award of the Japanese Academy, the Blue Ribbon Award, the Kinema Junpo Award and the Mainichi Film Concours.