Hon Nara Uru Hodo, an anthology manga by Ao Kojima, has taken home the Grand Prize at the 30th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize awards. The prize honors works that uphold the legacy of manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka.
Kojima's winning work centers on a second-hand bookstore called Jūgatsudō, its owner, and the diverse clientele who frequent the shop. This is not the only recent accolade for Hon Nara Uru Hodo, as it also secured the 19th Manga Taisho award and topped the male readers' list in Kono Manga ga Sugoi! for the year.
Other notable winners include Mado Saitō's Kaijū o Kaibō Suru for the New Creator Prize, which follows a kaiju specialist dissecting a colossal creature. The Short Work Prize went to Kawajirō for Atarashii Tomodachi: Kawajirō Tanpenshū, a collection of 10 short stories. Kazuyoshi Takeda's WWII-set manga Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise, depicting the experiences of a soldier on the island during the Battle of Peleliu, earned the Special Prize.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Tokyo on June 11. The Grand Prize winner receives 2 million yen and a bronze statue, while the other prize recipients each get 1 million yen and a statue. Last year's Grand Prize went to Rintarō's autobiographical manga 1-byō 24-koma no Boku no Jinsei.
Source: Asahi Shimbun (via Anime News Network)
