What is the Kyoto International Creators Award
“Digital Anime Contest”?
The Kyoto International Creators Award is an international contest held to provide opportunities for aspiring manga artists and other creators to debut through Kyoto.
There are two contests: the Comic Contest and the Digital Anime Contest,
both with open themes.
Submit your best work!
◆Past Award-Winning Works◆
Prize
Grand Prize(1 winner)
100,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Excellence Award(1 winner)
50,000 JPY + invitation to the award ceremony
Finalist(3 winners)
10,000 JPY
Applying is easy! 3 steps
- Please read the application requirements below carefully and ensure there are no issues.
- Please upload your entry to YouTube or Vimeo. *If you do not want your work to be publicly available, set the video to “Unlisted” (for example, in YouTube privacy settings). This will make the video viewable only by those with the URL. *However, if your work is selected for the final round, you will need to make at least a digest or trailer publicly available.
- Please click the “Apply Now” button below and fill out the form with the URL and information about your work.
Check the application requirements
Upload your work
Fill out the submission form
Winners will be invited to Kyoto!
The results will be announced on this page in October. The winners of the Grand Prize and Excellence Award will be invited to the award ceremony held in Kyoto in November!
The organizer will cover round-trip travel and accommodation expenses (for one person per award).
For winners living overseas, part of the travel expenses will be covered by the organizer. Alternatively, we will arrange for online participation.
About the Judging
The entries will first be screened by the contest office.
The final judging will be conducted by the special judges listed below!
Judge
Representative, DoGA
Yutaka Kamada（Kamada Yutaka）
Representative of DoGA, a CG animation promotion group active since 1985.
Founder of the "CG Animation Contest," and long-time judge of the event.
Judge
CEO, Onakama Inc.
Ryo Hamanaka（Hamanaka Ryo）
Producer & community designer.
At Onakama Inc., he manages anime creators and produces short animations.
He is also a board member of the NPO Anime Industry Innovation Council (ANiC), which aims to support technological innovation and organize events in the anime industry.
In addition, he founded the creative community “Anime-Poi Base” and organizes the online indie anime film festival “#Hashtag Animation Fes.”
審査員
Coming Soon
Currently under preparation. Please stay tuned for the announcement.
Comic Contest Now Open!
Submission deadline for the Comic Contest isAugust 31, 2025 (Sun)
Application Requirements
- Entry Period
- May 28, 2025 (Wed) – August 31, 2025 (Sun) 17:00 JST
- Purpose
- To provide a platform for personal animation works, widely promote them to the public, and encourage quality improvement.
- Eligible Works
- Original self-produced video works in which the main parts are created using a computer.
- Work Guidelines
-
Eligible Works
・Works submitted to other contests are accepted.
・2D or hand-drawn digital animations are also accepted, not just 3D.
・Submissions from overseas are welcome, but you must be able to communicate in Japanese.
・Any device or software can be used.
・There is no time limit, but extremely long works (over 30 minutes) may be at a disadvantage during judging.
Ineligible Works
・Commercial works or those created based on paid external requests are not eligible.
(Works sold at doujin events are acceptable.)
・Still images alone cannot be submitted.
・Interactive works where content changes based on user input are not eligible.
Additional Notes
・The main parts of the visuals must be created on a computer.
(Simply scanning and editing drawings on paper does not count as CG.)
・Live-action segments (including clay animation) are allowed, but will not be judged.
・If the visuals include elements that may be mistaken for CG (e.g. hand-drawn or clay animation), please explain this in the work description. Such parts may be excluded from judging.
・Using AI-generated images is allowed, but you must clearly state how and where AI was used in the "Work Description / PR" section.
Works that creatively and effectively utilize AI may be positively evaluated.
・For non-Japanese entries that include dialogue, Japanese subtitles are required.
- Eligibility
- Open to professionals and aspiring professionals. Amateur creators are welcome, and even professionals can enter if the work is self-produced.
- How to Enter
-
・Upload your entry to a platform like YouTube or Vimeo, then submit the work details using the entry form.
(You do not need to make your video public.)
・See "3 Easy Steps to Apply" above for more details.
※ During final judging or afterward, you may be asked to submit the original video data.
- Prizes
-
・Grand Prize (1 work): ¥100,000 + Invitation to the awards ceremony
・Second Prize (1 work): ¥50,000 + Invitation to the awards ceremony
・Honorable Mentions (3 works): ¥10,000
- Judging Criteria
-
・Works that gain strong support from viewers and inspire others to create digital animation will be highly valued.
・Judging will be based on a comprehensive evaluation of entertainment value, theme, story, CG technique, visual sense, artistic quality, originality, passion, effort, and overall completeness.
- Results
-
・Results will be announced on the official website and various media outlets.
・Winners will also be notified via email.
- Prize Payment
- Prize payments will be arranged via the email address provided during entry. (Transaction fees will be the responsibility of the winner.)
- Notes on Copyright
-
・Copyright of submitted works remains with the creator.
・However, award-winning works may be screened at events such as the "Award Screening" organized by the contest organizer or affiliated parties, and may be distributed or broadcast online or on TV.
・Likewise, for purposes related to this contest, the organizers and related parties may screen, broadcast, record, reproduce, distribute, sell, edit, translate, and modify the works. The copyright holder agrees not to exercise moral rights against these uses.
・Please ensure your work does not infringe on third-party copyrights, including music and design elements. Any issues arising from copyright infringement are the sole responsibility of the applicant.
・If your work uses pre-existing music as BGM, you may be asked to replace it.
・There is no entry fee.
How to Recommend a Creator
- Click the "Recommend Now" button below and fill in the work title, creator name, or other relevant details in the form.
- Based on the recommendation information provided, we will contact the creator and introduce this contest to them.
※Please note: submitting a recommendation does not constitute an entry. The creator must apply themselves. - It’s not necessary to have complete information (e.g., work title or creator name). Just provide what you know.
- Recommendations do not affect the judging process in any way.
- We may not be able to contact the creator, depending on the circumstances. Thank you for your understanding.
External Link
You can view past archives and judging results on the "CG Animation Contest (former official site)".
