Japanese Industry Leaders Exploring New International Anime Award For 2027

Looking beyond individual titles, the potential new award is being positioned as a way to celebrate the creators, producers and studios whose work shapes the popular Japanese art form.

ByTrey Alston
September 26, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Japanese animation leaders will explore launching a new international anime award in 2027 at a Tokyo Anime Next conference on October 30.
• The proposed award would spotlight the creators, producers, and studios shaping anime rather than focus solely on individual titles.
• A-1 Pictures president Akira Shimizu will join the TIFFCOM discussion, part of the Tokyo International Film Festival running October 26 through November 4.

Japanese industry leaders are considering new ways to recognize the people driving the expansion of anime.

According to Variety,Tokyo Anime Next will host a conference at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival’s TIFFCOM market titled: “Toward the Launch of a New Anime Award in 2027.”

The October 30 discussion will explore the potential of creating an international award led by members of Japan’s animation industry.

According to the festival, the conversation will look beyond individual titles to the creators, producers and studios whose work shapes the popular Japanese art form. Akira Shimizu, president and representative director of A-1 Pictures and a director of the Association of Japanese Animations, is among the announced speakers.

Ryota Fujitsu, programming advisor for the festival’s animation section, will moderate. The festival also plans three separate animation conferences featuring directors from Japan and abroad.

The proposed award is one part of a broader festival program connecting Japanese film’s past and future. A 13-film retrospective will honor director Kenji Mizoguchi on the 70th anniversary of his death. It includes a newly restored version of his 1933 film The Water Magician, screening in Japan for the first time in that restoration, as well as Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff.

The festival will also mark 10 years of its Teens Cinema Workshop with a November 3 event featuring films made by former participants and conversations with past mentors.

The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival runs from October 26 through November 4, while TIFFCOM will take place October 28-30.