Meeda, a manga artist from Saudi Arabia, took the silver award in this year’s Japan International Manga Awards for a work titled “Quarter Life Crisis,” Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The gold award went to Brazil’s Laica Chrose, while two other silver prizes went to artists from Vietnam and Taiwan.
The gold and silver award winners will be invited to Japan by the Japan Foundation to attend an awards ceremony in Tokyo in March 2026.
There were 738 entries from 110 countries and regions this year, which was a record number of entries. The country with the most entries was China (72 entries), followed by Taiwan (62) and Indonesia (51). For the first time, entries were received from Libya, Afghanistan, Puerto Rico, Togo, Nepal, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry established the Japan International Manga Awards in 2007 to honor manga artists who have contributed to the spread of manga culture overseas.
The selection for the award was made by a committee chaired by manga artist Satonaka Machiko after an initial selection made in cooperation with the Association of Manga Publishers. Based on the judging results, the executive committee, chaired by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, approved 15 winning works.
