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The 20th Japan International MANGA Award

Guidelines for Application

  1. Purpose

    To spread MANGA culture overseas and promote international cultural exchanges through MANGA.

  2. Award

    1. The Japan International MANGA Award will present the Gold Award to the best MANGA work, the Silver Award to three excellent works, and the Bronze Award to approximately eleven other works. Gold and silver Award winners will receive certificates and trophies, and Bronze Award winners will receive certificates.
    2. The Special Encouragement Award may be given to a manga work that does not qualify for the Silver Award but is more highly regarded than the other Bronze Award entries. A Special Encouragement Award winner will receive a certificate.
    3. One representative (the creator of the work, or either the artist or writer in the case of a collaborative work) of the Gold Award and Silver Award winning works will be invited to Japan for approximately 7 days for the award ceremony as an additional prize (Special Encouragement Award and Bronze Award winners are not eligible for the invitation program).

  3. Conditions of Entry

    1. To be eligible for Japan International MANGA Award consideration, the submitted work must be at least 16 pages long. Both published and unpublished works are accepted, except for those that have previously won the award.
    2. Manga works eligible for submission must have been created within three years (2023-2026) of the date of application.
    3. Eligible manga works must not violate the intellectual property rights of any third party.
    4. Entries must be the original work of the creator(s) named in this application. Manga works that were primarily generated by AI, including but not limited to their plot, composition, and artwork, will not be accepted. However, it is acceptable to use AI-generated images as supplemental material for certain parts of the work. If AI is used, it must be declared in the appropriate section of the Application Form (Microsoft Forms) when submitting the entry.
    5. Entries must be submitted in PDF format. Works drawn on paper must be photographed or scanned and submitted as PDF data.
    6. Only one entry per manga artist will be accepted. Only the first entry will be considered in the case of multiple submissions.

  4. Applicant

    1. The applicant submitting a work must be a non-Japanese national (in the case of a collaborative team, at least the artist must be a non-Japanese national). The representative of a winning work who will participate in the invitation program for the Gold and Silver Award winners must be a non-Japanese national.
    2. The applicant must hold the copyright and other legitimate rights to the submitted work and have the legitimate authority to grant the Japan International MANGA Award Executive Committee the right to use it.
    3. Publishing companies outside Japan may apply for the Japan International MANGA Award on behalf of a work’s creator(s) if the creator(s) of the manga work agrees to the application.
    4. The applicant, as the person who has legitimate rights to the submitted work, grants the Executive Committee of the Japan International MANGA Award the right to use (e.g. reproduce, translate, exhibit, and publicly transmit) all or part of the submitted work, for non-commercial purposes such as promoting and publicizing the Japan International MANGA Award and manga culture within Japan or abroad, in any medium, in any area of distribution, in any manner, and for any period of time, free of charge, without limitation.
    5. In order to further the goal of promoting international cultural exchanges through manga, the winning works must be widely shared with the public in every nation and region of the world to showcase the appeal of manga. The applicant, as the person who has legitimate rights to the submitted work, agrees that as a condition of winning the award, the first 30 pages of the work (including the cover, and translated into Japanese by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will be made publicly available on the Japan International MANGA Award website for an indefinite period. (Uploading of award-winning works in their original languages will be optional.) The applicant further agrees the original entry data will not be returned and may be donated to or exhibited at public institutions or other venues.
    6. If selected for an award, the recipient's identity will be confirmed (the applicant will present an official ID).

  5. How to Apply

    (Click here for details on how and where to submit your data)Open a new window

    1. Application Period:
      April 15th 2026 – June 30th 2026 (entries must be submitted through the Application Form (Microsoft Forms) by the end of this period)
    2. Application Contents:
      When you apply, submit the following documents.
      • REQUIRED: Application Form (Microsoft Forms)
        https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/4JutVgvh5Y
      • REQUIRED: Manga Work (PDF)
        The work should be submitted as ONE copy in electronic form (PDF)
        • PREFERRED: Japanese Translation of Manga Work
          If you wish to provide a Japanese translation, submit it at the same time as your manga work (as a Microsoft Word file or PDF) and include ① page numbers, ② the original dialogue, and ③ the Japanese translation of the dialogue (AI translations are acceptable).
    3. Submission Method:
      • For applicants living outside Japan, the Japanese embassy or consulate in the country or region in which they reside will send them a link to upload the PDF data after they submit the Application Form.
      • For applicants who live in Japan, the Cultural Affairs and Overseas Public Relations Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan will send them a link to upload the PDF data after they submit the Application Form.
    4. Notes
      1. Handling of Personal Information
        The Japan International MANGA Award Executive Committee will use the personal information provided in the application form for the following purposes: to contact the applicant in the event that he or she receives the award and to perform other tasks related to the selection and administration of the award. In addition, the personal information may be disclosed to third parties for purposes other than those described above in cases based on laws and regulations, when there are reasonable grounds for use by administrative agencies, incorporated administrative agencies, local public entities, or local incorporated administrative agencies to the extent necessary to carry out the processes or business within their jurisdiction as provided by laws and regulations, or when there are other special grounds as provided in Article 69, Paragraph 2, Item 4 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, Japan. By submitting the application form, the applicant consents to the handling of personal information as described above.
      2. Cancellation of Award
        In the event that any reasonable doubt arises regarding the above declarations and warrants, such as plagiarism being pointed out by a third party, the award may be revoked even after the announcement of the final results. The applicant cannot dispute the revocation with the organizers. In the event that a third party files a claim, demand, or lawsuit against the applicant, the applicant shall be responsible for responding to such claims, demands, or lawsuits at his or her own expense (including attorney's fees).
      3. Technical Notes for Form Filling and Submission
        1. The Application Form must be filled out in either English or Japanese.
        2. IMPORTANT: The e-mail address must be entered correctly.
        3. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address provided when you complete the submission form in Microsoft Forms. If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within one day of submitting your form, it is possible that your e-mail address was entered incorrectly. In this situation only, please resubmit the application form.
        4. Please name the PDF of the manga work using the creator or artist’s full name as it was entered in the application form:
          ex）FirstnameFamilyname.pdf
        5. Please ensure that the electronically submitted work can be printed on A4 size paper. In particular, for vertically scrolling works or webtoons, applicants must adjust the data by separating the frames so that the manga can be printed on A4 size paper in an appropriate size.
        6. Page numbers must be indicated on every page of the work.
        7. Clearly indicate when a particular portion is a two-page spread.
        8. Additional printed copies may be requested for works under consideration for an award.
        9. Manga works in any language are acceptable.

  6. Return of Works

    The submitted works will not be returned to applicants. The submitted works might be donated or exhibited for the purposes described in 4.(4).

  7. Selection

    After the first round of screening by the Association of Japanese Manga Publishers, the 20th Japan International MANGA Award Selection Committee will select the award winners. Selection results will be posted on the Japan International MANGA Award and Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites.

  8. Award Ceremony

    The award ceremony will be held in Tokyo in February or March 2027.

  9. Point of Contact

    Please contact the Japanese Embassy or Consulate nearest to you.