Submissions to the Japan Media Ar ts Festival have continued to climb year by year, and this edition was no exception. Most dramatic of all, however, was the increase in overseas entries, with half again as many as last year. In the not so distant future we may see works from other countries outnumber those from Japan. The selection of a work from France for the first Grand Prize to be garnered by the Manga Division is a further sign of the internationalization of the Festival, which is beginning to play a role in introducing a diversity of overseas works not only to Japanese audiences but also those outside Japan. As the selection process grows more competitive, our jurors and the Festival office are doing their best to meet the challenge, but it may behoove us to devise a framework that can more effectively respond to the ensuing rise in global expectations.
One of the primary objectives of the Japan Media Arts Festival is to cultivate new talent, and I believe that the celebration of distinguished achievements contr ibutes to this goal. Until this year we have chosen only one Special Achievement Award for all four divisions, but over the years sentiment among our jurors has grown for an award from each division. This year, thanks to the good offices of the Agency for Cultural Af fairs, we confer the Special Achievement Award on four recipients, selected from among numerous candidates by each division. This represents a broadening of our efforts to recognize and reward, however modestly, the hard work of those who have contributed to the media arts.

Not too long ago there was a tendency to view media arts as a field where new ground was being broken purely on a technical level. Today, however, the media arts no longer pursue novelty for its own sake; they have matured into a world of poetic wonderment, profound in content and rich in expression. As someone associated with the Japan Media Arts Festival, it makes me happy that, as the event enters its 16th year, it can be said to have contributed to this evolution of expressive artistry in the media arts, as well as to the discovery of formerly unknown talent in the field.
This year's edition boasts submissions from an unprecedented 71 foreign countries and regions, further evidence of the extent to which the Festival has established itself as a fixture on the international scene. A look at the prizewinners in each division reveals not only the high level of execution and technical sophistication one would expect, but also a disquieting sensibility and a fierce scrutiny of the darker aspects of the heart. These qualities are indubitably a reflection of the times we live in today. At the same time many works are full of humor; some, at first glance seemingly dead serious, prove in fact to be hilariously nonsensical. The Festival is nothing if not an event that showcases the full diversity of the media arts. Even in CG images, normally thought to be a step removed from reality, it is fascinating to discern cultural differences indicative of their regions of origin. From websites to paper media, from video to performance, this is a festival of such unparalleled breadth that I sincerely believe it has something for everyone to enjoy.