The Embassy of Japan continues its search to find the best comic short stories in the UK with the launch of its annual Manga Jiman Competition.

This year’s competition, now in its twelfth year, again has two categories; Yonkoma Manga, a comic strip of four panels on one page, for entrants aged between 11 and 13 and Manga Jiman, a short story told across six to eight pages for anyone aged 14 or over.

Entrants for both sections of the competition are asked to create a story which includes a reference, either written and/or visual, to this year’s theme ‘Home’.

The first Prize in this year’s Manga Jiman category is two return air tickets to Japan, courtesy of All Nippon Airways, with a second prize of a laptop from Toshiba and third prize a digital camera from RICOH UK Ltd. Runners-up will receive a selection of manga publications, available in the UK from various UK manga publishers amongst others prizes.

The first prize in the Yonkoma Manga is a prize from the Japanese Gallery. Runners-up will receive a selection of fantastic manga-related prizes.

Winners and runners-up will also have their artwork displayed in a special exhibition at the Embassy in 2019.

The competition judges look for artistic ability, original style, smart storytelling and imaginative ideas. Every year the chosen shortlisted entries display a wide variety of styles and innovative storylines which raises interesting questions about what defines manga/comics in this country.

• The deadline for receipt of entries is 5.00pm Monday 5th November 2018. For full details and rules about this year’s Manga Jiman competition, visit this page on the Embassy of Japan web site | A selection of recent winning entries can be found here.

• Please email manga@ld.mofa.go.jp or phone 020 7465 6540 with any queries about the competition | Find Manga Jima n on Facebook | Follow Manga Jiman on Twitter @mangajiman

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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