Call for Entries for the Japan Package Design Awards 2027 Begins April 1! Deadline: April 30, 2026 (Thu) 17:00

Application Registration Period: April 1, 2026 (Wed) – April 30, 2026 (Thu) 17:00

Application Guide Page https://activity.jpda.or.jp/seminar_event/5299.html

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What are the JAPAN PACKAGE DESIGN AWARDS?

This is a competition hosted by the Japan Package Design Association (JPDA) that invites and selects works (products) from a wide public call for entries.

Professionals from the design field of packaging gather to compete on the design and creativity of their works.

Held biennially since 1985, it has established a platform to applaud outstanding work, aiming to enhance the social status of package design.

A major feature is its evaluation from a package designer's perspective, placing importance not only on aspects of packaging conscious of production, distribution, and the environment but also on design value and the product creation viewpoint. Each time, from over 1,000 entries, the Grand Prize, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Special Judge's Awards are selected through a rigorous judging process by member judges and external special judges.

Winning and selected works are featured in publications, and winning works are exhibited in a traveling exhibition (planned for Tokyo and other locations). The Grand Prize and Gold Prize-winning works are also preserved in their physical form in the association's archives.

Application Overview (Excerpt from the application guidelines)

Application Guidelines Download Page https://activity.jpda.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/日本パッケージデザイン大賞2027_応募要項_最終.pdf

Eligible Works

Works launched (announced) and mass-produced in Japan between March 1, 2024, and February 28, 2026. *The first round of judging will be conducted using images of the works. The second round, which selects the prize-winning works, will be a physical judging. *If your work passes the first round, you will be required to send the physical product to the location specified in the selection notice.

Judging Criteria

1. Creativity: New designs that pave the way for the future (Innovative) 2. Aesthetics: Designs that are beautiful and appealing (Aesthetics) 3. Functionality: Easy to understand and easy to use designs (Easy to Understand/Usability) 4. Marketability: Designs that capture the target audience and the times (Marketability) 5. Social Responsibility: Designs that contribute to society (Social Responsibility)

Judgment will be based on these five points.

Judges (Names in Japanese phonetic order, titles omitted)

48 First-Round Judges (Member judges selected by JPDA member vote and previous Gold/Silver prize winners)

17 Second-Round Judges

□ 11 JPDA Member Judges also serving in the Second Round (selected by member vote) Makoto Umebara, Kazue Ogami, Yuko Ogawa, Yoshio Kato, Seiseki Kudo, Fumi Kodama, Sayuri Tokairin, Yoji Shindo, Minako Mihara, Shigeru Yamazaki, Yuji Watanabe

□ Previous 'Grand Prize' Winners *Second-round judging only POLA Designers (Kurumi Shigeta / Karin Mai Kamiyama / Ayumi Matsumoto)

□ Special Judges *Second-round and special judging Taku Sasaki (KOKUYO Co., Ltd. YOHAK_DESIGN STUDIO / Art Director, Product Designer) Taku Satoh (TSDO Inc. / Art Director, Graphic Designer) Seri Tanaka (Art Director, Graphic Designer) Junko Tsuda (Editor-in-chief of 'Design no Hikidashi') Yasuhito Yamashita (Nikkei BP / Editor-in-chief of 'Nikkei Design')

Recent Award-Winning Works

[Image Caption] Japan Package Design Awards 2025 Grand Prize: Pola Cosmology [Image Caption] Japan Package Design Awards 2023 Grand Prize: BAUM [Image Caption] Japan Package Design Awards 2025 Gold Prize Winners [Image Caption] Japan Package Design Awards 2025 Award Ceremony

Please see here for Grand Prize and other winning works. https://www.jpda.or.jp/award

Winning and selected works are published in the 'Package Design in Japan Biennial' (published in May of the event year), which serves as a highly valuable yearbook for confirming the current state of Japanese package design.

Publication Information (Package Design in Japan Biennial) https://www.jpda.or.jp/publication?tax=6

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Japan Package Design Association (JPDA)

Official Website: https://www.jpda.or.jp/

Founded in 1960 and transitioned to a public interest incorporated association in 2013, JPDA is the industry organization for package design.

JPDA's activities are diverse, including the Japan Package Design Awards (design competition), publication of a yearbook, hosting exhibitions and seminars, conducting research, international and domestic exchange, and public relations. It creates various 'platforms' to convey the value and create the appeal of package design, with activities spanning from international exchange to domestic and regional levels.