Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. It has established itself and has a long running standing as the most important digital art / new media institution in Asia.
"The Japan Media Arts Festival is a comprehensive festival of Media Arts (Media Geijutsu) that honors outstanding works from a diverse range of media - from animation and comics to media art and games. The festival gives awards in each of its four divisions: Art, Entertainment, Animation, and Manga. It also provides a platform for appreciation of the award-winning and other notable works. Since its inception in 1997, the festival has recognized significant works of high artistry and creativity, and in addition to a yearly Exhibition of Award-winning Works has held other events, such as symposiums, screenings, and showcases. Award-winning works are exhibited both within Japan and abroad through various projects and events organized by The Agency of Cultural Affairs which aims to develop and promote the creation of Media Arts by focussing primarily on the new generation of artists."
The competition for the Awards is global and significant, the 18th Festival in 2014 received 3,853 artist applications from 71 countries around the world, the 19th Festival in 2015 received a record 4,417 entries.
