60th Canon Photo Contest (Japan)

Canon Marketing Japan is running the 60th Canon Photo Contest, the long-running amateur photography competition first launched in 1953. This year's submission window runs from May 7 through August 31, 2026.

The contest features six categories: Free, Nature, Moving Subjects, Portrait, Under 30 (open to photographers born on or after May 7, 1995), and a WEB category (added in 2021). Each category can be entered with up to 10 works per person, and photographers may enter multiple categories within the per-category limits. A group of five photos counts as one submission.

Submissions must be original, previously unpublished work, taken with a digital camera of 35mm or smaller sensor size or a 35mm or smaller film camera. Color or monochrome is accepted. Print submissions are required for the Free, Nature, Moving Subjects, Portrait, and Under 30 categories. The WEB category accepts digital data only. Entry requires Canon ID registration.

Awards include one Grand Prize (500,000 yen plus an EOS R5 Mark II and RF24-105L IS USM lens kit), Gold awards in each category (200,000 yen plus an EOS R6 Mark III and RF24-105 IS STM lens kit for print categories; 100,000 yen plus an EOS R8 and RF24-50 IS STM for the WEB category), along with Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention prizes at each category level. First-line judges include Akira Igarashi, Ayano Sudo, Yoshihiro Tatsuki, Ikuko Tsurumaki, and Kaoru Miwa, with Yuki Ueda judging the WEB category.

Results are announced on December 1, 2026, with prize notifications sent by mid-October. Applications are open only to amateurs residing in Japan. This is a high-prestige, high-budget, judged-by-working-photographers contest: a strong fit for Japan-based amateurs with a portfolio of strong prints ready for submission.