Akatsuka Award

The Akatsuka Award is the name of a semi-annual award presented to humorous manga cartoonists by the Japanese publisher Shueisha (集英社). The award has been given since 1974 and it aims to reward artists of new mangaka in the Comedic Manga category. Its counterpart award, Tezuka Award, awards new mangaka in the Story Manga category. Notable entrants and winners include Takeshi Okano, Kazumata Oguri, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, Norihiro Yagi and Yusuke Murata. The award was named after Fujio Akatsuka, one of the most successful gag manga artists.