GaijinPot EXPO 2024 Art Contest - Tell Us About Your Celebrations in Japan!

In celebration of our 25th anniversary, GaijinPot Expo 2024 invites everyone in the community to show us their celebrations in Japan.

Send us your artworks and stories about your celebrations in Japan for a chance to win exciting prizes and awards! The finalists will have their works displayed at GaijinPot Expo 2024.

To submit your artworks, please read this page carefully and follow the entry guidelines for instructions and the important deadlines for the voting process.

• Art Contest 2024 Theme
• Awards
• Voting process/Important dates
• Entry Guidelines
• Eligibility
• Act on the Protection of Personal Information
• Disclaimers

Celebrations in your life in Japan

This is an exciting opportunity to win the grand prize of ¥40,000, and have your work shown at GaijinPot Expo 2024, one of the largest events for the international community in Japan.

We want to ask you to share your stories of celebrations in Japan through your artworks, whether it is thorugh a painting, photograph, collage or writing－any form of art that fits the theme and entry guidelines* for this event.

Important Note: This contest will be mainly judged based on how well the artwork portrays and relates to the theme of Celebrations in your life in Japan, and not solely on the level of skill or professionalism of the artwork.

Awards

1. 1st place award: ¥40,000
2. GaijinPot Award (Staff’s Favorite): ¥5,000 Amazon gift card
3. Online Favorite Award (Community’s Favorite): ¥5,000 Amazon gift card

Voting Process

1. Pre-selection

Artworks sent by Oct. 31 will pass through an internal selection process, and the semi-finalists will be selected. The semi-finalists will be announced on Nov. 8 on this event page. Be sure to check it out!

2. Online Voting

From Nov. 8~21, we’ll invite the whole GaijinPot community from around the world to be a part of the contest and help us pick the winners. Finalists will be announced on Nov. 22 and contacted by email address (event-office(at)gplusmedia.com).

3. Expo Voting

The finalists’ artworks will be displayed at the GaijinPot Expo 2024 event, where visitors can appreciate them at the venue and vote for their favorite. 

Everyone who comes to the event can vote from the start of the GaijinPot Expo 2024 at noon to 4 p.m. The artwork with the most votes will be announced as the winner at 4:30 p.m. 
Even if you can’t attend, check our @gaijinpot for all the updates!

Important Dates!

Entry Guidelines

Theme: Celebrations in your life in Japan

Format: JPEG or PDF

File size: Max 5MB

• JPEG: No designated size / Resolution: 300 dpi or higher
• PDF: One A3 size page (Width: 297 mm × Height: 420 mm) that contains the artwork’s title and the artist’s name.

Maximum number of submissions per person: 5

The finalists’ artworks will be printed on an A3-sized panel and displayed at the Expo 2024. Please ensure that your submission meets the format and size requirements above.

Submission Form

You can submit your artworks through the Submission Form, and make sure to fill out all of the requested information.

Share on Social Media

Please feel free to post your submitted artworks on your social media accounts and share this event with your friends and family. Use the hashtags #GaijinPotEXPO2024 #GaijinPotArtContest2024  and tag us @gaijinpot for a chance to be featured on our social media posts!

Note: Submissions may be used on promotional materials and SNS posts by @gaijinpot and GPlusMedia to announce the contest, the voting campaign and the winners.

Eligibility

• Participants shall be deemed to have agreed to the Entry Guidelines (including the Disclaimer) when their entry is complete.
• Participants may submit up to 5 artworks. However, participants are not allowed to submit the same photos more than once.
• Entries are limited to original works, of which only the participant owns all necessary rights (including copyrights), excluding publicity rights. The participant is not to use images posted on external websites and blogs without permission, which may constitute an infringement of copyright. Entries including images of other persons are limited to those that have cleared publicity rights in advance.
• Illustrations created by artificial intelligence are not eligible.
• Participants may be amateur or professional, regardless of nationality or age. However minor-age participants must have consent from a parent or guardian to participate in the contest.
• Participants must have a valid Japanese bank account since the cash prizes will be deposited to the winners’ bank account.

Act on the Protection of Personal Information

• Personal information provided by the participant will be safely managed and only be used for the administration and publicity of the Contest, such as to contact participants regarding the Contest, award deliveries, manage entries, and display winning entries. We may also use non-personally identifiable information of participants to generate statistical data. Personal information will only be used within the scope permitted by the Personal Information Protection Law, and for no other purposes. The participant acknowledges that any data collected through the Contest (such as EXIF data) will be processed and analyzed as non-personally identifiable statistical information, and may be disclosed to third parties such as sponsoring companies.
• Personal information provided by the participant will not be disclosed to third parties without the participant’s approval, excluding the following purposes: to announce contest winners or introduce entries, to outsource the administration and publicity of the contest to subcontractors, and when required by law.
• Personal information provided by the participant will be shared and used within the following scope.
  1. Collected Data
     Information such as name, date of birth, address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. submitted by the participant when the participant’s entry is selected for an award, or selected by GPlusMedia Inc. for promotional use.
  2. Users
     The operator of GPlusMedia Inc. 
  3. Purpose of Use
     Personal information of participants will only be used for the administration and publicity of the Contest, such as to contact participants regarding the Contest, award delivery, manage entries, and display winning entries. The organizer may also use non-personally identifiable information of participants to generate statistical data.
  4. Personal Information Management
     Please check the Privacy Policy here.

Disclaimers

• Entries are not limited to previously unpublished works. However, to prevent trouble, the participant is encouraged to thoroughly check the Entry Guidelines of other photo contests when submitting a work that has previously won an award, or when submitting a work that is planned for submission to another contest. The participant may also enter works that have been previously published in non-commercial publications created by the participant. Works posted on participant’s personal blogs, and social media such as Facebook and Flickr accounts are also accepted, as well as works displayed at non-juried photo exhibitions.
• In principle, copyrights of entries belong to the participant even after submission to the Contest. The participant shall not transfer the copyright of entries to third parties.
• The participant shall be solely responsible for resolving any disputes with third parties related to the entries submitted by the participant, at their own cost. GPlusMedia Inc. accepts no responsibility.
• Minor-age participants must have consent from a parent or guardian to participate.
• The participant cannot withdraw entries from the Contest once submitted.
• The participant shall be responsible for the backup of entries.
• The participant shall be responsible for any cost incurred for applications. 
• The organizer will not accept works sent via post or directly brought to the Contest office. Such works will not be returned to the participant.
• The participant grants GPlusMedia Inc. a free-of-charge license to publish, reproduce and broadcast or use their entry for an indefinite period of time for promotional use by GPlusMedia Inc., and our sponsors under the conditions specified in this section. In such cases, participants will be notified via Instagram Direct from @gaijinpot or by email (event-office@gplusmedia.com) when possible. 
• Regarding the usage of entries as stated above, entries may be cropped, edited or modified using visual effects, music, and sound effects without prior approval from the participant.
• When using the participant’s entry, the participant will be credited wherever possible. The participant agrees to waive all moral rights of author in the use of submitted entries.
• The participant warrants that the participant owns all copyrights appearing in the entry, and has been granted prior permission for use of publicity rights. It is the sole responsibility of the participant to confirm that the entry does not infringe the rights of any third party and that prior permission is obtained to use the image of any person appearing in the entry. As specified in the Entry Guidelines, entries are subject for Secondary Use on GaijinPot’s website/app, SNS, official accounts etc. Participants may not submit entries that include advertisements and signboards of third-party brands. Participants may not submit entries that offend public order and morals.
• The organizer reserves the right to delete or disqualify, without prior notice, entries by participants who have been deemed by the organizer to have violated the Entry Guidelines or public order and morals, or have defamed or caused disadvantage to other participants. The organizer may also rescind awards given to a participant.
• The Entry Guidelines shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan, and the Tokyo District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the first instance over any lawsuit in connection with the contest or Entry Guidelines.
• Although entries are handled with the utmost care, the organizer does not accept any responsibility in case of accidents.
• No inquiries will be accepted regarding entries and selection of winners.
• Awards are non-transferable and non-exchangeable.
• The Contest is organized by GPlusMedia Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., and Instagram are not affiliated with the Contest, and do not sponsor, approve, or operate the Contest in any way. Moreover, participants are deemed to have agreed that Meta Platforms, Inc., and Instagram have no involvement with the participant’s entry and selection of awards. 
• Although the Contest uses Instagram’s system, GPlusMedia Inc. will not answer inquiries regarding the usage and technical matters related to Instagram’s system and software or application or features provided by Instagram and third parties. For inquiries regarding such matters, please directly contact Instagram or the relative third party.
• GPlusMedia Inc. reserves the right to change or cancel the Contest, in whole or in part, without prior notice to participants. Furthermore, when deemed necessary, the organizer may change the Contest’s overview, Entry Guidelines, and implement necessary measures for the fair operation of the Contest. Changes made to the Entry Guidelines are effective at the time of publication by GPlusMedia Inc.