The anthology manga wins yet another award.
Japanese news publication Asahi Shimbun has announced the winners for the 30th iteration of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, which includes awards like the Grand Prize, New Work Prize, Short Work Prize, and Special Prize.
Bringing home the Grand Prize award is Hon Nara Uru Hodo, which is written and illustrated by Ao Kojima, and published by Kadokawa. The series is an anthology revolving around a second-hand bookstore called Jugatsudo.
Hon Nara Uru Hodo
Author and illustrator: Ao Kojima
Publisher: Kadokawa
Platforms: not available for web reading, purchaseable through Amazon and other print stores under Kadokawa.
What is the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize?
The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists and/or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka approach. The prize was founded and is sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1897. The Prize has been held yearly since 1997, and commemorates manga pinoreer Osamu Tezuka, who is well-known for his classic manga titles like Astro Boy, Black Jack, and Kimba the White Lion, to name a few.
Who are the winners of the 30th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize?
Grand Prize: Hon Nara uru Hodo
Written and illustrated by Ao Kojima
Publisher: Kadokawa
Summary:
This is a place where books and people reconnect.
"Jūgatsudō" is a used bookstore run by a languid young man with his hair pulled back.
Attracted by the owner's personality and wonderful selection, various customers visit every day.
Regular book lovers, high school girls trying to act more grown-up,
a man who comes to throw away unwanted books, a widow selling her husband's collection.A single book picked up by chance connects unexpected relationships—
A gem of a human drama for all who love books and whose lives have been changed by them!
Hon Nara Uru Hodo was also recently crowned the winner of the 19th Manga Taisho Award.
New Creator Prize: Kaiju o Kaibo Suru
Written and illustrated by Mado Saito
Publisher: Kadokawa
Summary:
Akira Honda, a monster expert, is summoned to the site of an autopsy of the carcass of a colossal monster called "Tokyo."
A massive specimen, approximately 210 meters long and with an estimated weight of 85,000 tons.
As Akira reviews the research data on Tokyo, he begins to doubt, "It's inactive, but... is it really 'dead'..."
Short Work Prize: Atarashii Tomodachi: Kawajiro Tanpenshu
Written and illustrated by: Kawajiro
Publisher: Magazine House
Summary:
The gloomy school,
the lonely days after the death of a beloved wife,
the life of simply going back and forth between work and home,
begin to shine like the sky after the rain.Contains 10 short stories filled with special moments in life.
Special Prize: Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise
Written and illustrated by: Kazuyoshi Takeda
Publisher: Hakusensha
Summary:
The island of Peleliu. A paradise on earth where the Japanese soldier Tamaru, a draftsman in civilian life, disembarked in the summer of 1944, at the end of the Pacific War. The Eden turns into hell when the American fleet decides to invest it... 50,000 Japanese and American soldiers kill each other around an airport considered strategic at the time. The American army dispatched 40,000 elite soldiers, while the Japanese army faced up to the situation with a reserve of 10,000 soldiers, having received orders to resist to the last.
Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise also received an anime film adaptation which premiered in Japan in 2025.