The 49th Japan Science Fiction Convention (Nihon SF Taikai or Japan SF Con/2010 Tokon 10) gave Seiun Awards to the late Kaoru Kurimoto's Guin Saga novel series, Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars anime film, Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka's Pluto manga, Sunrise's 1/1-scale Gundam statue, and Studio Nue illustrator Naoyuki Kato (Starship Troopers, Legend of the Galactic Heroes) on Saturday in Tokyo. Takumi Shibano, the influential editor, translator, and "science-fiction researcher" who contributed to Tekkaman, Gatchaman F, Casshan, and other Tatsunoko Productions anime, received a special award; Shibano passed away on January 16.

"Seiun Shō" literally translates to "nebula awards," but the Japan SF Con's Seiun Awards are more akin to Worldcon's Hugo Awards, in that the attendees of each respective convention vote on the winners. There is another set of awards, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan's Nihon SF Taishō honors, that are the rough Japanese equivalent of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Awards.

Macross Frontier, Trigun Maximum, Rocket Girls' Housuke Nojiri, and Kato won Seiun Awards last year, while Library War, Dennō Coil, Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Miku Hatsune, Nojiri, and Kato all received awards in 2008. Hosoda had previously won the Media category in the 2007 Seiun Awards for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time anime film. Kato won the first of his four awards in the Art category in 1979. Kurimoto received a special posthumous award in last year's 30th Nihon SF Taishō Awards.

It was at 1981's Daicon III and 1983's Daicon IV (the local names for those year's SF Cons) that a group of artists showcased their talents with two intricate opening animation shorts — most of those artists later became the studio Gainax.




Japanese Long Fiction

The Guin Saga
Kaoru Kurimoto
Hayakawa Publishing
Released in North America by Vertical



Japanese Short Fiction

"Interview with the Columns of Clouds"
Hirotaka Tobi
Kawade Shobo Shinsha



Translated Long Fiction

The Last Colony
John Scalzi
Translated by Masayuki Uchida
Hayakawa Publishing
Released in North America by Tor Books



Translated Short Fiction

"Dark Integers"

Greg Egan
Translated by Makoto Yamagishi
Hayakawa Publishing
Released in North America by Far Territories



Media

Summer Wars
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Madhouse
To be released in North America by Funimation



Comic

Pluto
Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka, co-authored with Takashi Nagasaki
Surervised by Macoto Tezka with the cooperation of Tezuka Productions
Shogakukan
Released in North America by Viz Media



Art

Naoyuki Kato



Nonfiction

The Intellectual History of Japanese SF 1857-1975
by Yasuo Nagayama
Kawade Shobo Shinsha,Publishers



Free Entry

Gundam 30th Anniversary Project Real G: The Statue of Gundam
Produced by Sunrise
Nomura Co., Ltd.



Special Award

Takumi Shibano
Translator, author, magazine editor, "science-fiction researcher"
1926-2010