Satoru Noda's Golden Kamuy Wins 9th Manga Taisho Award

Manga creator Satoru Noda received this year's Manga Taisho for his Golden Kamuy manga series. The manga centers on Saichi Sugimoto, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war who heads to Hokkaido to find gold to take care of the wife of his fellow soldier. He teams up with an Ainu hunter named Asirpa to find a hidden stash of gold stored by criminals.

Sugimoto launched the series in Shueisha's Young Jumpmagazine in 2014, and it is currently being serialized. Shueisha published the manga's sixth compiled book volume on March 23.

Unlike many other manga prizes which are chosen by the editors of the manga publishers themselves, the Manga Taisho nominating committee is mostly composed of the bookstore staffers who are in charge of their respective stores' manga sections. (The official English name of the awards is the "Cartoon Grand Prize.") The awards are also limited to works published last year with eight or less volumes to promote relatively newer works. The committee nominated 11 works this year.

Last year, Akiko Higashimura's Kakukaku Shikajika (Such-and-Such) won the award, and Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story won the year before that. Hiromu Arakawa's Silver Spoon, Shinichi Ishizuka's Gaku - Minna no Yama, Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru, Mari Yamazaki's Thermae Romae,Chika Umino's March comes in like a lion, and Akimi Yoshida's Umimachi Diary won the first six Manga Taisho in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively.

The official website for the awards posted a video announcing the winner.

Noda drew an illustration in gratitude for the award:

Manga Taisho 2016 Final Results
Golden Kamuy
Satoru Noda
91 points
Dungeon Meshi (Dungeon Food)
Ryōko Kui
78 points
Blue Giant
Shinichi Ishizuka
68 points
Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED or The Town Where Only I Am Missing)
Kei Sanbe
55 points
Hyakumanjō Labyrinth (One Million Tatami Labyrinth)
Takamichi
49 points
Nami yo Kiite Kure (Waves, Listen to Me)
Hiroaki Samura
43 points
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni (Love is Like After the Rain)
Jun Mayuzuki
42 points
Machida-kun no Sekai (The World of Machida-kun)
Yuki Andō
38 points
Tokyo Tarareba Musume (Tokyo "What If" Girl)
Akiko Higashimura
29 points
Okazaki ni Sasagu (Dedicated to Okazaki)
Saho Yamamoto
28 points
Tonkatsu DJ Agetarō
Ipyao, Yūjirō Koyama
25 points