Thursday 31 March 2011

Shogakukan Manga Award




March was a long, long month. So many things went on in the four weeks that it felt like half a year had gone by the end of it.



 (The invite to the Shogakukan Manga Awards and 
the commemorative coloisonné plate)



First of all, on March 3, I attended the 56th Shogakukan Manga Awards and the celebratory after party, both held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Japan is home to numerous manga awards, but the Shogakukan Manga Awards represents one of the four largest awards given each year, others being the Japan Media Arts Festival held by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize by Asahi Shimbun, and the Kodansha Manga Award by Kodansha. The Bungeishunju Manga Award (awards for one and four frame manga as well as nonsense manga) was also one of them, until it was sadly canceled about a decade ago.

Now, back to the Shogakukan Manga Awards. After a speech by the president of Shogakukan, the winners were announced.



(The award winners, from left: Natsumi Matsumoto, Ken Sasaki, Fumi Yoshinaga, Chuya Koyama, Shohei Manabe)





Children’s Category
Natsumi Matsumoto for Yumeiro Patissiere

Shonen (Boys’) Category
Ken Sasaki for KING GOLF

Shojo (Girls’) Category
Fumi Yoshinaga for Ooku

General Category
Chuya Koyama for Uchu Kyodai
Shohei Manabe for Yamikin Ushijima-kun

Rival publishers like Shogakukan and Kodansha who publish popular manga magazines rely heavily on their sales of manga, therefore most of the award candidates are selected from their own catalogues of manga and artists. Yet on many occasions, such publishers have given out awards to manga published by their rivals, allowing the awards to gain credibility. This time, for example, Shogakukan has awarded Shueisha’s Yumeiro Patissiere and Kodansha’s Uchu Kyodai. Over a thousand guests attended the after party, including a number of prominent manga artists like Naoki Urasawa and Go Nagai as well as editors of manga magazines from such publishers like Akita Shoten and Hakusensha. The drinks, the meals, and the dishes whipped up by sushi chefs were all of top quality. I can say that such luxury in manga parties is unique to Japan. 

End of March


For my last entry of the month, I have two personal announcements. On March 6, I received shodan ranking in Iaido, which I’ve been practicing for a year. On March 8, I celebrated my birthday. Perhaps I deserve a little omedetou, or congratulations from myself.

Long, long March is ending soon…

Sunday 27 March 2011

Tohoku Earthquake





      
  Since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, the death toll has reached over ten thousand, with another ten thousand missing. Over 130,000 people have been forced to evacuate. As for the nuclear disaster, we can’t even foresee what will happen. While the entire nation is deeply saddened by the events, we are grateful for the support we’ve received from around the world.

 From Dragonhead to Breakdown, Survival, Hyoryu kyoshitsu and Hadashi no gen (Barefoot Gen), Japan has seen various works of manga based on themes of natural disaster and radiation. But reading such mangas should be a wakeup call when everything is peaceful. Today, I can’t bare the thought of turning the pages.