田中直樹 (Naoki Tanaka) from Fukuoka Prefecture was awarded the TOKIWA Creator Award for his work "Shogaibutsu Kyoso" (lit. Obstacle Race).

©北九州市
Naoki Tanaka is Kitakyushu City employee who works as a captain in the fire brigade. He said, "I entered a couple of pieces that I drew as a kid for both competitions. This time I submitted five manga strips. I scrambled to get this piece finish as the deadline started to approach. I think that life is kind of like a manga. I will continue creating new manga when I have some free time at work. I hope that I can be some use to Kitakyushu City."

Naoki Tanaka (田中直樹)