Asahi Shimbun revealed that Kiwa Irie’s Yuria-sensei no Akai Ito manga bagged the Manga Grand Prix at 27th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The manga explores the concept of family.

Gump’s Danchotei Nichijo, an autobiographical manga on the author’s battle with cancer, won the Originality Prize, with The Asahi Special Prize being awarded to one of the leading horror mangaka Kazuo Umezu.

Moreover, Onnanoko ga iru Basho wa by Ebine Yamaji won the Short Story Prize. The story, consisting of 5 chapters, centers around girls who live in n Saudi Arabia, Morocco, India, Japan and Afghanistan.

The winner of Manga Grand Prix will be awarded with 2 million yen ($14,600), whereas Originality, Short Story and Asahi Special Prize winners will be given 1 million yen each.

All the winners will be awarded with a bronze statue.

27th Tezuka Osamu award ceremony will be held on June 8, 2023, at Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters.

The nominees for this years Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize under Manga Grand Prize category includes:

• Umi ga Hashiru End Roll by John Tarachine
• Onnanoko ga Iru Basho wa by Ebine Yamaji
• SPY × FAMILY by Tatsuya Endo
• Takopi’s Original Sin by Taizan 5
• Cesare: Il Creatore che ha distrutto by Fuyumi Soryo
• Tokyo Higoro by Taiyo Matsumoto
• Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo
• Yuria-sensei no Akai Ito by Kiwa Irie

The judges for this year’s award nominations included manga creator Osamu Akimoto (Kochikame), manga creator Machiko Satonaka (Machiko’s One Thousand and One Nights), entertainer Minami Takahashi, writer and Tohoku University of Art and Design instructor Yukiko Tomiyama, professor and scholar Shohei Chujo, manga critic Nobunaga Minami, and comedian and manga creator Taro Yabe (Prince of the Stars).

The nominees were chosen by this year’s judging committee, from titles recommended by people in the manga business including specialists, editors, and bookstore employees.

Named after Osamu Tezuka, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan.

The categories for Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize are:

• Grand Prize – for the excellent work during the year
• Creative Award – for the creator with innovative or epoch-making expression and fresh talent
• Short story Award – for the excellent work or creator of the short story
• Special Award – for the person or group who contributed to extend the culture of manga

Source: Asahi Shimbun