Tomato Soup's A Witch's Life in Mongol Manga Wins 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Award

Image courtesy of Yen Press

The Japan Cartoonists Association (JCA) announced the winners of the 54th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards on Tuesday. Tomato Soup's A Witch's Life in Mongol (Tenmaku no Jādūgar, pictured right) manga won the grand prize in the Comic division. WART CARTOON — 1-koma Manga kara Yomitoku Myanmar no Kurushimi to Negai (WART CARTOON — Understanding Myanmar's Suffering and Hopes Through Single-Panel Comics) by WART, an organization that supports freedom and peaceful expression, won the Cartoon division. Machio Same's Manga Ishibumi: Genbaku ga Ochite kuru toki, Bokura wa Sora wo Miteita (Manga Ishibumi: When the Atomic Bomb Fell, We Were Looking at the Sky), based on Hiroshima TV's documentary Ishibumi, won in the Manga division. Each grand prize includes a 500,000 yen (about US$3,145) prize money and a certificate handwritten by manga creator Tetsuya Chiba.

In addition, Mado Saitō's Kaijū o Kaibō Suru (Dissecting a Monster) won the Manga Kingdom Tottori award, and received 200,000 yen (about US$1,258) in prize money and Tottori Prefecture specialties. Yan Gao's Sukima (Gap) manga won the Manga Kingdom Tosa award, and received 200,000 yen in prize money and Kōchi Prefecture specialties.

All works of manga creator Big Joe received the MEXT award, 200,000 yen in prize money, and a Certificate of Commendation from the MEXT.

Last year, Yuri Sonoda's Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi (Tsureneko Maruru to Hachi) manga won the grand prize in the Comic division, Masaru Yamaguchi's 10-nin no Hakase no Hiruyasumi (The 10 Doctors' Lunch Break) won the Cartoon division, and Sakana Sakatsuki's Star Tripper -Planetarium Ghost Travel- won in the Manga division.

The JCA has presented the Japan Cartoonists Association Awards every year since 1972. Machiko Satonaka served as head of this year's selection committee. Committee members included: Yutaka Abe, Naomi Kimura, Yukio Shinohara, Kazuyoshi Takeda, Noriko Nagano, Akiko Nemoto, Emi Misaki, Norifusa Mita, Yasuhiro Yamauchi, and Aooni Yamane.

Source: Japan Cartoonists Association's website and X/Twitter account

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