12th Osamu Tezuka Culture Award Final Nominees Announced

Anime! Anime! reports that the nominees for the 12th Tezuka Cultural Awards have been announced in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Ten manga have been nominated for the award, they are:

• Umimachi Diary (1) Semishigure no Yamugoro by Akimi Yoshida [ Shogakukan ]
• Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga [ Hakusensha ]
• Kaijuu no Kodomo by Daisuke Igarashi [ Shogakukan ]
• Nana by Ai Yazawa [ Shueisha ]
• 81diver by Yokusaru Shibata [ Shueisha ]
• Moyashimon (Tales of Agriculture) by Masayuki Ishikawa [ Kodansha ]
• Ushijima the Loan Shark by Shohei Manabe [ Shogakukan ]
• Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma [ MediaWorks ]
• Lucu Lucu by Yoshitoo Asari [ Kodansha ]
• Red by Naoki Yamamoto [ Kodansha ]

The winners will be announced in early May. Go here for last year's winner.