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◆
▶Kyoto International Creators Award 2025 Digital Anime Contest | ResultsPrize
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
- - The author is originally from Kyoto City
- - The author currently resides in Kyoto City
- - The story is set in Kyoto City
- - The character settings are related to Kyoto, etc.
*1 Please also provide your reason in the form.
*2 Awarded only if there is an eligible entry.
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.
Judging
The steering committee will conduct the primary screening of submitted works, and the final selection will be determined by the special guest judges listed below!
Judge
DoGA Representative
Yutaka Kamata
Born in 1963, Kamata founded DoGA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting CG animation, in 1985 while still a student at Osaka University. Believing that personal filmmaking with PCs represented a new frontier in visual-media culture, he played a pivotal role in developing and distributing Japan's first CG animation software. The CG Animation Contest, which he launched in 1988, has since produced numerous top creators active both in Japan and internationally. Over the course of nearly 40 years, he has reviewed more than 10,000 works.
Judge
Animation Director, Dean and Professor of the Faculty of Arts at Osaka Seikei University, Investor
Kenji Itoso
After apprenticing under director Hayao Miyazaki in his teens, Itoso went on to work as a cinematographer on the late Satoshi Kon's Dreaming Machine.
He has also contributed to the production of other titles, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, Attack on Titan, Fire Force, and Macross Delta.
Alongside actively developing his own original projects, he is dedicated to education that gives students hands-on industry experience.
In the making of Santa Company, he pursued industry reform built on the following three pillars: creative work, investment, and education.
In recent years, he has also directed the TV anime series Drops of God and Aquarion: Myth of Emotions.
Judge
Mitsuho Seta
Born in Kyoto, Seta graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts with a major in Japanese painting.
She joined Trigger Inc., where she contributed to the production of works such as Little Witch Academia, SSSS.GRIDMAN, and Promare.
Since departing to become a freelancer, she has worked across a wide range of roles, including director, screenwriter, color designer, and art director.
Her credits include director and screenwriter for the OVA High School Girl and the Magic Notebook, color design and art direction for the anime promotional video Magical Girl holoWitches!, screenwriter for the TV anime Drops of God, and director, series composition, and screenwriter for the TV anime The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife.
Comic Contest Now Open!
Submission deadline for the Comic Contest isAugust 31, 2026 (Mon)
Application Requirements
- Entry Period
- June 4, 2026 (Thu) – August 31, 2026 (Mon) 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 "Applying is easy! 3 steps" 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 JPY + Invitation to the awards ceremony
・Second Prize (1 work): 50,000 JPY + Invitation to the awards ceremony
・Honorable Mentions (3 works): 10,000 JPY
・Kyoto Award (1 winner): 10,000 JPY
*To be selected only if a qualified candidate is found. *Prize money may be paid after the deduction of withholding tax.
- 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
-
・By submitting your work to this contest, you are deemed to have agreed to the
Contest Terms, so please be sure to read the full text. Please note that once the contest entry period has ended, submitted works cannot be edited or deleted, except for adding tags.
・Personal information provided upon entry to this contest will also be used for the "Questionnaire on Future Policy Development," which Kyoto City plans to conduct in the future.
・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)".
