The Nippon Communications Foundation, publisher of Nippon.com, is holding a photo contest in collaboration with Tokyo Camera Club under the theme of “Moments in Japan.” The contest runs from February 5 to March 13, 2024. Winners will receive wonderful prizes. We invite anyone living in Japan to share your Japanese encounters with others in the world.
Prizes
Winners of the contest will receive Amazon gift cards and have their works featured in a special photo gallery on Nippon.com.
- Grand Prize (1 person)
The photo chosen as best in all categories.
Prize: Amazon gift card worth ¥100,000 - Category: Beautiful Moments (2 persons)
Any photo conveying beauty in some form, such as traditional crafts, pop culture, nature, or everyday scenery.
Prize: Amazon gift card worth ¥50,000 - Category: Delicious Moments (2 persons)
Photos showcasing Japan’s culinary delights, whether sweets, “B gourmet” dishes, bentōs, fruit, sake—any snapshot worthy of a bite, chomp, sip, or gulp.
Prize: Amazon gift card worth ¥50,000 - Category: Moments of Truth (2 persons)
Photos capturing a glimpse of Japan as it stands today—the unique, the uncomfortable, the strange, the fascinating.
Prize: Amazon gift card worth ¥50,000 - Nippon.com Prize (7 persons)
Photos chosen by the staff of Nippon.com’s multilingual sites: English, Chinese (both simplified and traditional characters), French, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian.
Prize: Amazon gift card worth ¥10,000
Judges
Ōnishi Naruaki
Photographer. Born in Nara Prefecture in 1952. His works focusing on the themes of life, aging, illness, and death have earned him numerous honors, including the Photographic Society of Japan’s Newcomer’s Award, ADC Gold Award, Kōdansha Publishing Culture Award, Hayashi Tadahiko Award, and Waseda Journalism Award. Formerly a professor in the Department of Design, Tokyo Zōkei University.
Haga Hinata
Photographer. Born in Tokyo in 1956. He is the head of the Haga Library, an archive of photographs and materials related to festivals and folk performing arts. Member of the Japan Professional Photographers’ Society, the Japan Travel Writers’ Association, and the Japan Folk Performing Arts Association. Serves as chief cameraman of DyDo Group Holding’s series Matsuri documenting festivals in Japan and judge for the organization’s Instagram photo contest.
Yamada Shinji
Photographer. Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1959. Member of the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association. Has photographed leaders in a broad range of fields, including entertainment, sports, and business. Instructor at the Canon EOS School. Formerly served as judge for NHK photo contests.
Tokyo Camera Club
Tokyo Camera Club is one of the largest photo curating communities in Japan. It operates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Mastodon, where anyone can post photos to be shared and viewed by TCC fans. Those who just want to stop by and enjoy some beautiful photos are always welcome as well. “Tokyo” may be in the name, but submissions from people living in other cities are, of course, welcome and encouraged!
Nippon.com Editorial Department
Nippon.com is a website that shares Japan with the world in seven key global languages. We publish original content offering diverse views on Japanese society, culture, and more, including in-depth looks at political, economic, and social issues, interviews with movers and shakers in Japan, and photo and video features from around the country.
You may use any camera or device to take your photos. We look forward to seeing your wonderful photos of Japan.
How to Participate
Please submit your photos via the web form at the link below or on Instagram. The cutoff date for entering photos is March 13, 2024, at 15:00 for web submissions and 23:59 via Instagram.
Official contest website
https://tokyocameraclub.com/nippon.com/
*Please note that due to changes in Instagram’s API, even if you add the specified hashtag to a past post, if that post had been posted for more than 24 hours, the post cannot be downloaded via the Instagram API and therefore will not be eligible. Only submissions that were able to be downloaded using Tokyo Camera Club’s system will be considered (please do not inquire as to whether or not your submission has been downloaded).
**The Contest is conducted by Tokyo Camera Club. Meta Platforms, Inc. and Instagram are not affiliated with the Contest in any way.