The main visual for the international animated film festival "Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2026 (TAAF2026)" (sponsored by the festival's executive committee and the Association of Japanese Animations) has been released. The visual, created by character designer Toko Yatabe and art director Mai Ichioka, who worked on the animated feature film "The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe," expresses spring in Japan. With cherry Toko Yatabe and Mount Fuji in the background, the gorgeous visual is perfect for everyone, from children to adults, to celebrate the arrival of spring.
At last year's TAAF2025, Yatabe won the Individual Award and Animator category in the Anime of the Year category, while Ichioka won in the Art, Color and Video categories.
Yatabe explained, "Every year when the main visual for the Tokyo Anime Award Festival is announced, I am drawn to the attractive and wonderful illustration. I never expected that I would be asked to do it this year - it was a pleasant surprise! During meetings with the TAAF Secretariat, we received a number of different motif proposals that we felt were 'TAAF-like.' From these, we chose and incorporated into the visuals Mount Fuji, which symbolizes Japan; an owl inspired by Ikebukuro, the venue; and cherry blossoms to coincide with the event being held in March."
"Also, the previous year's visuals gave the impression of depicting people of all ages and genders having fun, so this time we tried to fill the screen as much as possible with happy characters.If the characters were too strong, like in commercial anime works, it would lose its film festival feel, but if they were too simple it might not leave much of an impression... so we had fun creating the visuals, trying to find the right balance," he recalled.
"I asked Ichioka Mai, who I've worked with before, to handle the background art, and she has helped me to express the beautiful cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji even more. I would be happy if I could add a little bit of glamour to the Tokyo Anime Award Festival, a festival where animation-loving creators from all over the world gather in Ikebukuro, Japan. I sincerely hope that it will be a wonderful film festival that brings many smiles and moving experiences!"
Ichioka commented, "I'm grateful to Yatabe for asking me, and I'm happy to have this opportunity to work with him again. I hope that you will find this beautiful character even more glamorous."
Voting for the "Everyone's Choice Best 100" in the Anime of the Year category of "TAAF2026" began on November 1st. The awards cover works screened, broadcast, or streamed between October 1st, 2024, and September 30th, 2025. From the 100 works selected by fan voting, the "Best Picture" and "Individual Award" will be selected by votes from producers, creators, and stores selling anime goods active in the anime industry. The "Anime Fan Award" will be selected by fan voting. Voting for the "Everyone's Choice Best 100" will close on November 30th.
TAAF has been held since 2014 with the aim of promoting anime culture and industry, and discovering and nurturing new talent. The festival selects winners in categories such as the Competition Division, which is open to anime from around the world that have not yet been screened in Japan, and the Anime of the Year Division, which is open to anime released in Japan. It will be held in Ikebukuro, Tokyo from March 13th to 16th, 2026.
