Winners of the 30th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Announced! Manga Grand Prize Goes to "Hon nara uru hodo" by Ao Kojima

The winners of the 30th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize have been decided. The award ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 11, at Yurakucho Asahi Hall. Following the ceremony, a commemorative talk event will be held, with 350 general participants (planned) invited for free.

The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize was established by The Asahi Shimbun Company in 1997, with the cooperation of Tezuka Productions, to commemorate the achievements of Osamu Tezuka, who played a major role in the development and improvement of manga culture, and to contribute to the sound development of manga culture by inheriting his aspirations. In addition to the Manga Grand Prize, which is awarded to the most outstanding work of the year, there are the New Creator Prize, the Short Story Prize, and the Special Prize, each of which comes with an Astro Boy statue (sculpted by Kow Yokoyama) and a cash prize.

List of Award-Winning Works and Recipients

Manga Grand Prize (Most outstanding work of the year)
"Hon nara uru hodo" (KADOKAWA)
Ao Kojima

New Creator Prize (Authors with fresh talent, such as innovative expression or groundbreaking themes)
"Kaiju wo kaibo suru" (KADOKAWA)
Mado Saito

For high skill in balancing entertainment value and social relevance within a breakthrough setting.

Short Story Prize (Works/authors that have achieved excellence in short stories, 4-panel manga, 1-panel manga, etc.)
"Atarashii tomodachi Kawajiro tanpenshu" (MAGAZINE HOUSE)
Kawajirō 

Special Prize (Individuals or organizations that have contributed to the development of manga culture)
"Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise" (Hakusensha)
Kazuyoshi Takeda

For the new frontier of war expression shown in both the manga and the film version, and for the powerful anti-war and peace message released in the 80th year since the end of the war.