Publishing giant KADOKAWA has officially inaugurated the 2nd KADOKAWA WORLD MANGA CONTEST, setting its sights on international illustrators and writers seeking commercial debuts in Japan. The initiative builds upon the publisher's push to discover stories beyond domestic borders, providing overseas creators with structured access to Japanese editorial pipelines and serialization platforms.
Submissions will run from September 7, 2026, through February 28, 2027, culminating in an award announcement planned for May 2027. Entrants can compete across two distinct categories:
- Manga Category: Narrative works featuring dialogue, accepted in five languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, French, and Traditional Chinese.
- Wordless Manga Category: Silent sequential art relying entirely on visual storytelling, open to all languages and origins.
Path to Serialization
Beyond cash awards—led by a $10,000 USD Gold Prize, $5,000 USD Silver Prize, and $3,000 USD Bronze Prize—the centerpiece of the competition is hands-on mentorship. Award recipients will receive an all-expenses-paid invitation to the award ceremony in Tokyo, paired directly with dedicated editors from KADOKAWA to polish their stories for professional serial publication.
This framework has already demonstrated practical results. Indian artist masterlynx, who earned the Silver Prize in the preceding Wordless Manga competition, collaborated with Kadokawa editors to develop and serialize the action title Kung Fu Camphor on the web platform ComicWalker (Kadocomi). The company plans to mirror this model for winners of both competition brackets.
Overseas creators often run into barriers because of limited commercial serialization infrastructure in their local markets. Our mission is to bridge that distance, offering the mentorship and professional platform necessary to publish in Japan without borders.
Noboru Segawa, Editor-in-Chief, Overseas Manga Editorial Department
Creators interested in participating can submit their original projects directly through the official contest portal via Kadokawa World Manga across Japanese, English, Spanish, French, and Traditional Chinese submission forms.
