Osamu Tezuka was a legendary mangaka, famous for his works in Dororo (1967), Astro Boy (1952), and Phoenix (1959).
In his honor, Shueisha holds a semi-annual manga contest through their Weekly Shonen Jump. This award was established in 1971 and has been a way for new mangas to get funding and worldwide recognition.
For the award’s 100th anniversary, a particular manga contest was announced on 1st May. For the first time in its century-long history, the Tezuka Manga Contest has been opened to overseas applications in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.
JUMP TEZUKA MANGA CONTEST 100th Anniversary – Oversea Department Special Award is now open‼️📢
— MediBang-EN (@MediBangPaint_e) May 1, 2020
“TEZUKA MANGA CONTEST” has been a “Shonen Jump” tradition🏆✨
For it's 100th anniversary, we are going to look for wonderful talents around the world‼️https://t.co/UvYWy3p8K5
The judges for this esteemed award will be Eiichiro Oda (One Piece author), Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball author), Kazue Kato (Ao no Exorcist author), Kohei Horikoshi (Boku no Hero Academia author), Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk author) and Tezuka Productions.
The first prize for this contest is honored by their manga’s inclusion in the Weekly Shonen Jump.
They are also awarded 2,000,000 Japanese Yen (approx. 19,000 USD). The second prize recipient is awarded 1,000,000 Japanese Yen, and the third prize winner gets 500,000 Japanese Yen.
To encourage younger mangakars to enlist their works in this contest, Akira Toriyama said:
With manga, one person can create entertainment that is like a movie or a tv show, if they really want to. Dear manga lovers around the world, why not take this opportunity to create something where many people can become passionate about your works? I am waiting for you!
Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball
Notable recipients of this award include:
- Buichi Terasawa (1977, for Daichi yo Aoku Nare)
- Masakazu Katsura (1980, for Tsubasa and 1981, for Tenkousei wa Hensousei!?)
- Yoshihiro Togashi (1986, for Buttobi Straight)
- Nobuhiro Watsuki (1987, for Teacher Pon)
- Takehiko Inoue (1988, for Kaede Purple)
About Shonen Jump
On September 22, 2014, the free Shōnen Jump+ mobile app and website were launched in Japan. It sells digital versions of the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, simultaneous with its print release, and tankōbon volumes of individual Jump series past and present.
However, it also has extensive samples of the manga that can be read for free. There are also series that are serialized exclusively on the app, which, unlike in Shonen Jump, may be aimed at adult men or women. These exclusive series are later published in print tankōbon volumes under the Jump Comics+ imprint.
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