The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) presented the Japan Food Culture Contents Award to six manga/anime works at a ceremony that was held in Tokyo on Sunday, December 8. Hiromu Arakawa's "Gin no Saji -- Silver Spoon" (Shogakukan, Weekly Shonen Sunday) received the Grand Prize. Other awards -- the Gold/Silver/Bronze Awards and the Special Jury Award in the manga category and the Gold/Silver Awards in the Anime category -- were given to the works listed below.

The Japan  Food Culture Contents Award has been established to recognize manga/anime contents that have made significant achievements in spreading Japanese cuisine and food culture to the world. The award recipients have been selected from a pool of approximately 250 nominated or self-nominated works through a thorough evaluation process, on the basis of five criteria: cultural relevance, originality, novelty, story and reach. The award ceremony took place in the auditorium of the MAFF with the participation of manga artists, anime producers and members of the selection committee.

The Japan Food Culture Contents Award

Grand Prize:            "Gin no Saji - Silver Spoon"

                              Hiromu Arakawa/ Shogakukan: Weekly Shonen Sunday

Manga Category

Gold Award:           "Moyashimon"

                             Masayuki Ishikawa/ Kodansha: Morning Two

Silver Award:          "Natsuko's Sake"

                             Akira Oze/ Kodansha: Morning

Bronze Award:        "Shinya Shokudo"

                             Yaro Abe/ Shogakukan: Big Comic Original

Special Jury Award: "Oishinbo"

                             Akira Hanasaki/ Shogakukan: Big Comic Spirits

Anime Category

Gold Award:            "Soreike! Anpanman"

                              Takashi Yanase/ TMS Entertainment: Nippon Television, Froebel-kan

Silver Award:           "Crayon Shin-chan: Bakauma! B-Kyu Gourmet Survival!!"

                              Yoshito Usui / Futabasha: TV Asahi

Chairman of  Selection Committee:

Kenichiro Senoh, President of the Industry, Academia Collaboration Initiative Nonprofit Organization

Members of  Selection Committee:

Risa Aihara, CEO of Ai-Land. Co.,  Internet Service Producer

Masahiro Asami, CTO of Fuji Film Corporation

Masaki Enomoto, Mayor of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture

Masumi Niwa, President of Designer Foods Co.

Naoki Higuchi, Professor of Hokkaido University, Superior Skill Station

Koji Mikami, Associate Professor of Tokyo University of Technology, School of Media Science

Kaori Mori, Professor of Rakuno Gakuen University, Department of Environmental Studies