Tokyo, Dec. 17 (CNA) Taiwanese artist Rimui (韋蘺若明) grabbed the Gold Award at the 14th Japan International Manga Award competition, while Taiwan's Ruan Guang-min (阮光民) and D.S. took the silver and bronze awards, respectively, according to the list of award winners released Wednesday.
Rimui won gold for his work "Funeral Director (送葬協奏曲)," which depicts the funeral services industry. To create in-depth plots in the manga story, Rimui visited a funeral home to present a variety of death scenarios and delineate the practical, everyday activities of the funeral profession.
This is the first time a Taiwanese artist has won the top prize at the competition.
Ruan took the silver for a graphic novel adaptation of "The Illusionist on the Skywalk (天橋上的魔術師) and Other Stories," a 2011 short story collection by Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), a multidisciplinary Taiwanese artist, author and academic.
D.S.' winning work "Blossom (百花百色)," focuses on gender issues.
The three Taiwanese artists and their winning works have been featured in the Taiwan Manga Night Market exhibition at the Japanese office of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, which introduces Taiwan's diverse comic genres and provides sample chapters translated into Japanese.
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs founded the International Manga Award in 2007 for the purpose of expanding international exchanges and mutual understanding through the manga culture.
The award honors the Manga artists who are contributing to the development of Manga culture around the world.
This year, a total of 383 manga works were submitted to the competition by artists from 61 countries and regions, with one gold, three silvers and 11 bronzes handed out.
