Further acknowledging the spread of manga and anime across the globe, the Japanese government announced on Tuesday the creation of “the Nobel Prize of manga”:
The International Manga Award — which manga enthusiast Foreign Minister Taro Aso likened to a “Nobel Prize” when he first proposed it last year — will be given to an artist working abroad whose work best contributes to the spread of the manga form worldwide, the ministry said in a statement.
[snip]
The winner and three runners-up will receive a certificate and trophy at an awards ceremony set for July 2, and will spend 10 days in Japan meeting with local comic book artists and publishers, the statement said.
The AP story goes on to state that the award committee, comprised of manga creators and publishers, will announce the winners around June 22. There is, unfortunately no cash prize associated with the award. Darn it all.
I like, by the way, how the story says manga can be distinguished by an “emphasis on cuteness.” Apparently Junji Ito didn’t get the memo.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:39 pm
The prestige shouldn’t be any less than the Nobel Peace Prize, at any rate. After all, they gave that to Arafat without a hint of irony.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Wait!? International Manga? I thought manga was only produced in Japan?
Or is this like baseball and the World Series?
January 17th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.