The is a semi-annual

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

award offered by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese publisher

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

since 1971, under the auspices of its '' Weekly Shonen Jump'' magazine. It awarded new manga artists in the Story Manga category. Its counterpart award, Akatsuka Award, awards new manga artists in the Comedic Manga category. The award is named after the manga pioneer

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

and is designed to cultivate new artists. The prize for a top Selected Work is two million

Japanese yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. Th ...

and for a lesser but still worthy work, a million yen. The award also has third place honorable mentions for contestants deemed worthy, that includes half a million yen. These cash prizes may not be awarded (as is often the case) if the judges decide that none of the candidates are worthy.

Selection committee

Committee chair

(1971–1988) *

Fujio Akatsuka was a Japanese manga artist. Known as the Master of Gag Manga, he created many popular manga such as ''Osomatsu-kun'', ''Himitsu no Akko-chan'', and ''Tensai Bakabon''. Biography He was born in Rehe Province, Rehe, Manchuria, the son of a Ke ...

(1989–2008). Due to his failing health, this title was merely a formality during the years leading up to his death on August 2, 2008, with his duties handled by

Akira Toriyama was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential and important authors in the history of manga, authoring highly influential and popular series, particularly Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dra ...

in his absence.

Major committee members

These are the most prominent members of the committee only. Other adjudicators are also present in the committee. Former members *

* Kazuki Takahashi * Masanori Morita *

Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, ''Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, vi ...

* Hiroyuki Asada *

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series ''Slam Dunk'' (1990–1996), and the ''jidaigeki'' manga '' Vagabond'', which are two of the best-selling manga series in history. Many of his works are about basketball, I ...

Current members *

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the Astro Boy (1980 TV series), 1980 and Astro Boy (2003 TV series), 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and ''Black Jack ...

Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'', the best-selling manga in history and the best-selling comic series printed in volume. With more than 520 million copies of ''One Piece'' in circulation worldwide ...

* Kazue Kato * Kohei Horikoshi *

Nobuhiro Watsuki , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series '' Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' (1994–1999), which has over 70 million copies in circulation, and a sequel he is cur ...

Gege Akutami is a Japanese manga artist known for the manga series ''Jujutsu Kaisen''. Biography Gege Akutami was born in Iwate Prefecture, afterwards he moved to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture in fifth grade. Akutami began drawing manga by mimicking a frie ...

Recipients

Notable Recipients

Yoshihiro Takahashi is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist. He writes under a pen name in which his first name ''Yoshihiro'' is spelled out in hiragana (よしひろ). Takahashi was born on September 18th, 1953, in Higashinaruse, Akita, a village in the Tōhoku region ...

(1973, for ''My Alps'' ) * Buichi Terasawa (1977, for ''Daichi yo Aoku Nare'') *

Tsukasa Hojo is a Japanese manga artist. He studied technical design while still at Kyushu Sangyo University, where he began to draw manga. He worked on several one-shot stories before releasing his serialized works: '' Cat's Eye'', '' City Hunter'' and ' ...

(1979, for ''Space Angel'',) *

Masakazu Katsura is a Japanese manga artist, known for several works of manga, including '' Wing-Man'', '' Shadow Lady'', '' DNA²'', '' Video Girl Ai'', '' I"s'', and '' Zetman''. He has also worked as character designer for '' Iria: Zeiram the Animation'', '' ...

(1980, for ''Tsubasa'' and 1981, for ''Tenkousei wa Hensousei!?'') *

Hirohiko Araki , better known as , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one ...

(1980, for ''Poker Under Arms'') * Masanori Morita (1984, for ''It's Late!'' ) * Takeshi Obata (1985, for ''500 Kōnen no Shinwa'') *

Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...

(1986, for ''Buttobi Straight'') *

(1987, for ''Teacher Pon'') *

(1988, for ''Kaede Purple'') * Ryu Fujisaki (1990, for ''WORLDS'') * Kei Sanbe (1990, for ''Bird's Perspective'') * Shinobu Kaitani (1991, for ''Another Me'') *

(1992, for ''WANTED!'') * Hiroyuki Takei (1994, for ''ITAKO's ANNA'') * Yūki Tabata (2004, for ''XXX WITH NO NAME'') * Kōhei Horikoshi (2006, for ''Nukegara'') * Takeru Hokazono (2020, for ''Enten'')

References