●General Division●Junior Division(Age 12 or under as of April 1, 2027)
*Professional and amateur
“Sing”
(theme for the general and junior categories)
*We are not accepting free choice themes.
Four-panel manga
Original, unpublished work of your own
* Works posted in noncommercial media,
including coterie magazines,
SNS sites, and image posting sites,
are considered unpublished works.
There are no limits on how old your work is,
but your most recent
creation is preferred.
From 11:00 AM (Japan Standard Time) on Monday, June 1, 2026,
to 2:00 PM (Japan Standard Time) on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
- General Division(one work for each)
-
- Grand Prize (Grand Prix) 300,000 yen
- Overseas Participant Award 200,000 yen Selected from submissions from abroad.
- Manga Museum Award 100,000 yen
- TOKIWA Creator Award
Providing activity support under a project to integrate creators in Kitakyushu.
- Junior Division(about five works)
-
- Junior Award
Manga Artist Introductory Set
- Junior Award
- 10th Anniversary U15
Special Prize(one work) -
- Prize item (30,000 yen value) Sponsored by Fukuoka Hibiki Shinkin Bank
For applicants aged 15 or younger as of April 1, 2027
- Initial screening
- The organizer will conduct an initial screening.
- Final screening
- The judges will conduct the final screening of works passing the initial screening.
- Judges
-
- 【Chief Judge】 Seizo Watase
〈Honorary Director, Kitakyushu Manga Museum〉 - Tochi Ueyama〈Manga artist〉
- Mutsumi Hagiiwa〈Manga artist〉
- Koji Tabuchi〈Editorial Department at Kodansha’s Weekly Morning〉
*The TOKIWA Creator Award recipient will be selected exclusively by Colt Inc., which will support the winner’s future activities. - 【Chief Judge】 Seizo Watase
The winners will be announced on the official Kitakyushu International Manga Competition website (https://kitakyushu-mangataisho.com/en/) in late November or early December 2026. Award-winning and outstanding entries will also be featured on the website.
All applications will be accepted on the official website.
Fill out the application form and upload the data file of each work.
- Each work must be a four-panel manga strip.
Each four-panel manga must consist of a single page, but
each panel can be in any shape, size, and arrangement.
Each applicant can submit up to five works. Each work
must be comprised of four panels. Each work must be
completed in four panels.
(You may use the same character and world view in all your works.)
*Do not use generative AI trained on third-party copyrighted works without permission. - Create and save each work in accordance with the following data format guidance.
Number of pixels: Around 3,000 px × 4,500 px
Image format: JPEG format (in RGB or grayscale)
*No works in CMYK format or 2-gradation (monochrome) will be accepted. - Works in color or monochrome and any language are acceptable.
- Input necessary items into the form at the time of posting.
The full names of the artists (or pen name if you are using a pen name) and their country/region will be published for the award-winning and excellent works. - Works contrary to the purpose of the contest may not be
accepted, e.g., those containing expressions promoting violence,
slander, discrimination, obscenity, or offensive to others.
Any work that is found to be entered in other contests will be
disqualified even if their winning entry is chosen. - Entries must not infringe on the copyrights, portrait
rights, or other rights of third parties.
- For each work submitted, a copyright will be issued and belong to the applicant on the condition that the city of Kitakyushu may use the work (i.e., exhibit, print, publish, and display the work on the Internet) without the applicant’s permission.
- Personal information on all applicants will be handled properly in compliance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and no personal information on any applicants will be used for purposes other than the Kitakyushu International Manga Competition.