A bakery opens the door to a story—your story will be turned into a picture book—The 43rd Andersen Fairy Tale Award begins nationwide submissions on Tuesday, September 2nd.
Andersen Bread Lifestyle Culture Research Institute Inc. Press Release: September 2, 2025 A bakery opens the door to a story—your story can be turned into a picture book—The 43rd Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Award opens nationwide on Tuesday, September 2nd. The Andersen Group, founded in Hiroshima, is a public fairy tale award established in 1983 in sympathy with the aspirations of Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-abdb47fe7954c70a1c64cf45571eafcc-3900×2600.jpg [Recruitment overview] ・Application requirements: [General category] Junior high school students and above [Child category] Up to 6th grade of elementary school ・Theme: Freely write about feelings, emotions, and imaginations from everyday life. ・Character Limit: [General Category] 8,000 characters or less [Children’s Category] 800 to 2,000 characters ・Submission Period: Tuesday, September 2, 2025 December 10, 2025 (Wednesday) *Postmark on this date is valid – How to apply: There are two ways to apply: online application form or paper application form. *Submit your work to the secretariat. Announcement: Thursday, April 2, 2026 (birthday of fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen) Application Guidelines (Click here for details)
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-52e4c9f3fbf9cf549ddd2541fa4e72f3-1920×1280.jpg 42nd Award Ceremony
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-757ae80edd7355ec40e39fdd4ad64279-1920×1280.jpg Interviews with the Winners and Judges
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-e6293b0ce69451fd9656bac21d6f0f18-1920×1280.jpg Original art exhibition [Selection Method] Five illustrators with different styles will submit their fairy tale illustrations, and the winner will be chosen based on the story they feel most inspired to illustrate. The winner’s fairy tale will then be published as a picture book titled “Andersen’s Fairy Tale Library.” 《Selection Committee》 Professor Tomoko Inaba, Professor Satoshi Iriyama, Professor Chiaki Takasugi, Professor Chiaki Tagami, Professor Minoru Furuse [Award] General Category Grand Prize: 300,000 yen, Trip for Two to Denmark Excellent Prize: 300,000 yen Final Prize: 500,000 yen Children’s Division Grand Prize: 1 person receives a creative activity grant of 50,000 yen and a pair trip to Denmark. Two winners receive a creative activity grant of 10,000 yen. Common Andersen’s Fairy Tale Collection, Volume 43 Royal Copenhagen Annual Plate Enjoy Bread Gift Set ▼Prize image
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-0a80748c6d1fb1d5d2f5030502c65165-1921×1281.jpg Langerinje Park, Denmark
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-1c3201b4ea53b7eb7635bbaa3c692e4a-3900×2600.jpg Andersen’s Fairy Tale Library
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-bcfdcd552a02107633eb416a929df808-1921×1281.jpg Royal Copenhagen Year Plate/Bread Enjoyment Gift Set [Notes on Application (excerpt)] – Submitted works must be unpublished and written in Japanese. – Submitted works will not be returned. – Works that utilize AI will not be eligible for selection. – The copyright of the Grand Prize and Excellence Award winning works belongs to Andersen Bread Life Culture Research Institute, Inc. [Contact for inquiries regarding this matter] Andersen Group Public Relations Office, “Andersen’s Fairy Tale Award” Secretariat TEL: 082-240-1003 Email: meruhen@angp.jp *Telephone inquiries accepted: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, Obon, and New Year’s holidays)
※Winning Works of the 42nd Andersen’s Fairy Tale Grand Prize We would like to introduce some of the works that won the award at the award ceremony on April 2, 2024. These works will be published as a picture book titled “Andersen’s Fairy Tale Library” in September 2025. General Category Grand Prize “I am a mirror” Written by: Kuroiwa Yuu Selected and illustrated by: Hattori Kohei
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-34911936b834741914d696711e215a94-2421×1152.jpg General Division Excellence Award “Thanks to the thunder gods.” Artist: Midori Utsunomiya Selected and illustrated by: Okada Kouya
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-07c0e6e7380b77d9ce213fdf5a268469-2421×1152.jpg General Division Excellence Award “Autumn Concert” Artist: Kurina Kobayashi Selected and illustrated by: Nagano Keiko
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-9e890692675d0cc1d3e5343ea9337945-2421×1152.jpg General Division Excellence Award “Ohisama no Lamp” Artist: Tomoko Masaoka Selected and illustrated by: Goto Noriyuki
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-f9dffd00d860056f3159f036a68cdb2f-2421×1152.jpg Children’s Category Grand Prize “The Wolves’ Wish” Artist: Tosa Yai Selected and illustrated by: Kunisu Akiko
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/9964/58/9964-58-b4a160aeb1a606b0f3b5d90773b2d757-808×350.jpg Andersen Group In August 1948, shortly after the end of the war, Takaki’s Bread was founded in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Founder Shunsuke Takaki had the desire to “enjoy meals and enrich people’s lives by delivering authentic, delicious bread,” and he took on various challenges with his amateurish ideas. Currently, the Andersen Group is comprised of domestic and international affiliated business companies, with a focus on Andersen, which operates directly managed retail stores, Little Mermaid, which operates franchise stores, and Takaki Bakery, which delivers specialty breads such as stone oven bread to retailers, and is developing the bakery business as a whole. Going forward, with our founding vision of “bringing happiness to the dining table” in mind, we will continue to strive to be the world’s best quality bakery that can be of service to our customers. ■Established: August 1, 1948 ■Headquarters: 10F Lutheran Heiwa Boulevard Building, 2-19 Tsurumi-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City ■URL: https://www.andersen-group.jp/
