Oshi no Ko, Ikoku Nikki Nominated for Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes

The Asahi Shimbun paper announced the nine nominees for the 28th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize on Monday. The awards commemorate the contributions of the manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy/Mighty Atom, Kimba the White Lion/Jungle Emperor, Phoenix, Black Jack) by recognizing the manga that best follow his tradition.

Ikoku Nikki (Diary of a Strange Land)

Tomoko Yamashita

Shodensha

Oshi no Ko

Aka Akasaka, Mengo Yokoyari

Shueisha

Kanda Gokura-chō Shokunin-Banashi (Stories of the Craftsmen of Kanda’s Gokura Town)

Akihito Sakaue

LEED Publishing

Saturn Return

Akane Torikai

Shogakukan

Tamaki to Amane (Tamaki and Amane)

Fumi Yoshinaga

Shueisha

Blood on the Tracks (Chi no Wadachi)

Shūzō Oshimi

Shogakukan

Tsuyukusa Natsuko no Isshō (The Life of Natsuko Tsuyukusa)

Miri Masuda

Shinchosha

Tokyo These Days (Tōkyō Higoro)

Taiyo Matsumoto

Shogakukan

PLINIVS

Mari Yamazaki, Miki Tori

Shinchosha

Bocchi Shi no Yakata (Dying Alone in a Mansion)

Nazuna Saitō

Shogakukan

This year’s judging committee – manga creator Osamu Akimoto, manga creator Machiko Satonaka, entertainer Minami Takahashi, writer and Tohoku University of Art and Design instructor Yukiko Tomiyama, professor and scholar Shōhei Chūjō, manga critic Nobunaga Minami, and comedian and manga creator Taro Yabe – selected the nominees from titles recommended by specialists and bookstore employees. To be eligible, the manga had to have had a compiled volume published in 2023.

Asahi Shimbun will announce the winners in late April, and will host an awards ceremony in Tokyo on June 6. The Grand Prize winner will receive a bronze statue and 2 million yen (about US$13,300), while the other winners will each receive a bronze statue and 1 million yen (about US$6,600).

Last year, nine titles were nominated, and Kiwa Irie’s Yuria’s Red String won the Grand Prize. Gump’s Danchōtei Nichijō won the New Creator prize, and Ebine Yamaji’s Onna no Ko ga Iru Basho wa won the Short Work Prize.

Sources: The Asahi Shimbun, Comic Natalie