Taiwanese manga bags 1 gold, 2 bronze prizes in Japan

Tokyo, Dec. 27 (CNA) Taiwanese comic artists were among the big winners at this year's Japan International Manga Award, taking the top prize and winning two of the nine bronze prizes awarded, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday.

The gold prize was won by Taiwanese artist Jason Chien (簡嘉誠) for his comic book "Wind Chaser Under the Blue Sky" (青空下的追風少年), a story inspired by historical documents on Taiwan's railway archived by the National Archives Administration.

Set near the end of World War II, it tells the story of two teenagers of Taiwanese and Japanese descent who dream of setting sprinting records by running against trains.

The Taiwanese entries that won bronze prizes were "207th Bone" (二零七之骨) by Lin I-chen (林奕辰) and "Tomoe's Memories of Koumeya vol.2" (友繪的小梅屋記事簿2) by the artist Shimizu (清水).

"207th Bone" follows a girl on her quest to break from the bonds of family tradition and escape a fate of death, while "Tomoe's Memories of Koumeya Vol. 2" joins a third-generation restauranteur on her journey of discovering gourmet dishes.

In all, this year's manga award program handed out one gold prize, three silver prizes, nine bronze prizes and two special encouragement awards.

Chien was the second Taiwanese to win the award program's gold prize after Rimui (韋蘺若明) won it in 2020, but Culture Minister Shih Che (史哲) said Taiwanese comics have continuously received global acclaim in recent years.

He said the ministry will continue to support the comic arts in the creative production chain.

The Japan International Manga Award was founded by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007 to promote manga culture and only accepts foreign submissions.

At the 17th awards this year, it received a record high 587 submissions from 82 countries and regions, according to the ministry.

There were 83 works submitted from China, the most of all regions, followed by 69 from Taiwan and 39 from the United States, it said.

The awards ceremony will be held in March 2024.