© HIGA Susumu/KODANSHA

7th Manga Division Grand Prize

KAJIMUNUGATAI: Kaze ga Kataru Okinawasen (Okinawa Battle Witnessed by the Wind)

HIGA Susumu [Japan]

Reason for Award

Once you start reading this episode on Battle of Okinawa, a carefully drawn piece of work based on close research, it captures your attention and leaves an unforgettable impression on you. This is not a simple reproduction of a past event, but is a story about the most fundamental matters handed down to the present Japanese. This well-defined series of short stories wastes no space for verbosity. The quiet and subdued description has strong power, persuasiveness, and profound meaning, which makes readers want to come back and read it again and again. The fact that such a work has appeared is of great significance.