New Japanese Animation Prize Named Nippon Anime Awards, Sets First Ceremony for November 2027

A new Japanese anime awards program will be called the Nippon Anime Awards, with the first ceremony set for Nov. 21, 2027, at SGC Hall Ariake in Tokyo’s Ariake district.

The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), the industry body behind the prize, announced the name on Nov. 2 at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia Hall. The reveal closed out Tokyo Anime Next, a program of screenings, workshops and live shows that ran Oct. 30–Nov. 2, mostly in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood.

AJA president Ishikawa Kazuko unveiled the name on stage alongside the awards’ slogan, “Moving Frames. Moving Hearts. Moving the World.” The awards will honor standout anime titles and the people who make them, with an eye on audiences both in Japan and overseas. The ceremony will also host initiatives, run with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, aimed at opening up new business for the animation sector and developing young talent.

In a message shared at the event, Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko said: “The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will continue to provide strong support for anime and everyone involved in bringing it to life.”

The announcement capped a roughly 90-minute main event. Its second half, the Orchestra Premium Stage, set the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra against specially cut footage from three anime series. Nakagawa Nami sang “Kamado Tanjiro no Uta” for the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” segment, which also featured an orchestral take on the score cue “Demon Slayer Corps.” Higuchi Ai performed “Akuma no Ko,” the closing theme of “Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2,” after the orchestra played “Ashes on the Fire.”

The finale went to “Detective Conan,” which is marking its 30th anniversary. Kuraki Mai, who has recorded numerous songs for the series, performed “Secret of My Heart” backed by the orchestra.

“We hope to share the appeal and potential of anime to an even wider audience around the world and build that future together with all of you,” Ishikawa said.

The evening opened with a panel on anime’s international pull. It featured comedian Itakura Toshiyuki of the duo Impulse, singer Nakagawa Shoko and Sally Amaki of 22/7. Amaki, who was raised in Los Angeles, revealed that her entry point into anime music was Nakagawa Shoko’s “Sorairo Days,” the opening theme of “Gurren Lagann.” She added that she had sung it at her audition to become a voice actor.

“I’m so glad I became an anime singer,” Nakagawa Shoko said.

Elsewhere across the four days, a symposium at The Tokyo International Film Festival‘s TIFFCOM market on Oct. 30 examined the purpose of the new awards. Over the following weekend, 14 titles, most of them theatrical features, screened at three Ikebukuro cinemas, with cast and crew talk sessions attached to four of them. The lineup also gave “Lona,” a TV series from screenwriter Nogi Akiko and Wit Studio, its world premiere with a screening of episode one.

Production classes at Toshima Civic Center brought in staff from “Cosmic Princess Kaguya!” and “Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe.” The program also included a session on a Japan-Saudi Arabia co-produced animation made for Saudi Arabia’s 96th National Day. Children were given studio light tables to trace frames from “Chibi-Maruko-chan.”

Tokyo Anime Next was organized by the AJA and co-organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, with Toshima City as special sponsor. Sony Music Solutions ran the event secretariat.