Taiwanese comic artists were among the big winners at the Japan International Manga Award, taking the top prize and winning two of the nine bronzes, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.
The gold was won by Jason Chien (簡嘉誠) for his comic book Wind Chaser Under the Blue Sky (青空下的追風少年), a story inspired by historical documents about Taiwan’s railways from the National Archives Administration.
Set near the end of World War II, it tells of two teenagers of Taiwanese and Japanese descent who dream of setting sprinting records by running against trains.
Photo Courtesy of the Taiwan Culture Center in Tokyo
The Taiwanese entries that won bronzes 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 Shimizu (清水).
Lin’s 207th Bone follows a girl on her quest to break from the bonds of family tradition, while Tomoe’s Memories of Koumeya joins a third-generation restaurant owner on her journey to discover gourmet dishes.
The event handed out one gold, three silvers, nine bronzes and two special encouragement awards.
Chien was the second Taiwanese to win the top prize after Rimui (韋蘺若明) won it in 2020.
Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said that Taiwanese comic artists have regularly received global acclaim in the past few years.
His ministry would continue to support the comic arts in the creative production chain, Shih said.
The Japan International Manga Award was founded in 2007 by the Japanese ministry to promote manga culture and only accepts foreign submissions. At the 17th awards this year, it received a record 587 submissions from 82 countries and regions, it said.
There were 83 works submitted from China, the most of all regions, followed by 69 from Taiwan and 39 from the US, it said.
An awards ceremony is to be held in March.
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