Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now receiving applications for its 19th Japan International MANGA Award, which promotes international cultural exchanges through MANGA.
At the award ceremony taking place in Tokyo in early 2026, a Gold Award will be presented to the best MANGA work, three silver awards to other excellent works, and the Bronze Award to approximately eleven other works.
Eligibility
– Your submitted artwork must consist of more than 16 pages. Both published and unpublished works are accepted, except for those that have previously won the award.
– For your work to qualify, you must have created it within the past three years (2022-2025) from the date of application.
– Your work must not violate the intellectual property rights of any third party.
– The comic artist or the story writer of the submitted work must be a non-Japanese national.
– You 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.
– If you are a publishing company outside Japan, you may also apply for the Japan International MANGA Award if the copyright holder of the manga work agrees to the application.
– You, as the person who has legitimate authority over the submitted work, must grant the Executive Committee of the Japan International MANGA Award the right to use it, including to reproduce, translate, exhibit, and publicly transmit all or part of the submitted work, for non-commercial purposes
– At the person holding the legitimate authority over the submitted work, you must agree that the original submitted paper entry will not be returned to you and may be donated or exhibited at public institutions or others.
Application deadline
June 30, 2025
Where to apply
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is accepting entries for the 19th Japan International MANGA Award, which aims to foster international cultural exchange through MANGA.
The award ceremony will be held in Tokyo in early 2026, where a Gold Award will be given to the best MANGA work, three Silver Awards for other excellent works, and a Bronze Award to around eleven other entries.
Eligibility requirements include submitting an artwork of more than 16 pages, created within the past three years (2022-2025), and ensuring it has not previously won the award.
The work cannot infringe on any intellectual property rights, and the artist or writer must be a non-Japanese national.
Applicants must hold the copyright and legitimate rights to the work and agree to grant the Japan International MANGA Award Executive Committee permission for its use, including reproduction, translation, and exhibition for non-commercial purposes. Paper entries will not be returned and may be donated or exhibited publicly.
The application deadline is June 30, 2025, and entries can be submitted through the provided online application link.
