Vietnamese comic book wins Japan Int'l manga award

The historical comic book, created by Vietnamese artist and writers Thanh Phong and Khanh Duong, was awarded the silver prize of the prestigious competition out of hundreds of published works entered, the ministry announced.

The award, which excludes Japanese works, was created in 2007 under the lead of manga fan and then Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who later served as prime minister for a year, to promote manga as a Japanese cultural export.