With the aim of raising awareness among students who will lead the future of coin design, the Japan Mint will host the International Coin Design Competition (ICDC) 2026, inviting participation from students both in Japan and abroad. We hope this competition will lead to the discovery of many excellent works, and look forward to your creative and artistic coin designs.
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ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS

Any student who is registered at any school and was born on or after August 31st, 1996 is qualified to enter and submission of a coin design (the obverse and reverse sides) is required.

AWARDS

Grand Award (one award): 100,000 yen and an award plaque

Excellence Award (three awards): 30,000 yen and a supplementary prize

International Award (one award): 30,000 yen and a supplementary prize (*)

Special Jury Award: 10,000 yen and a supplementary prize

Encouragement Award: Award certificate

Note:	The awards may not be presented if there are no deserving entries. Taxes and other charges will be deducted from the prize money.
(*)	The International Award is open to applicants who are not Japanese nationals. Recipients of the International Award will be required to submit official documentation verifying their nationality after the award results have been announced. If the required documentation is not submitted by the designated deadline, the award will be revoked.

ENTRY PERIOD

September 16th, 2026
Note: The designs must be received by the Japan Mint no later than the above entry period.

REGULATIONS

1. Each entrant may adopt whatever theme he/she wishes for his/her work.
2. Works for entry must be unpublished and original.
3. Each entrant may submit up to three works.
4. Designs must be drawn in accordance with the following specifications:
   1. Designs must be drawn in two perfect circles 120 mm in diameter (the obverse design should be on the left and the reverse design should be on the right) on a sheet of 210 mm x 297 mm (A4) paper.
   2. Designs must be drawn on the assumption that they are to be for a coin of 30-mm diameter.
   3. Designs must be drawn in black and white.
   4. Any drawing materials are acceptable.
   5. Designs may not be creased or folded.

NOTES

1. Works submitted to the Competition must be original creations produced solely by the entrant. Any unauthorized use of third-party materials is strictly prohibited, such as the use of photographs, names, characters, logos, or other content that may infringe upon another party’s copyrights, trademarks, portrait rights, or any other rights.
   The use of generative AI in the creation of works is also prohibited. If any violation is confirmed, the submission will be disqualified.
2. Works submitted to the Competition will not be returned to the entrants.
3. Entrants are responsible for sending works to the designated address at their own expense. The Japan Mint is not responsible for any damages or losses during shipping of the works.
4. The copyright to all submitted works shall transfer to the Japan Mint upon entry. However, once the award-winning works have been selected, the copyright to all non-winning works shall revert to their respective entrants.
   Entries to the competition should not be submitted to any other competition until the award-winning works have been selected.
5. The copyright of the award-winning works shall remain with the Japan Mint. If entrants have any requests regarding the use or handling of these rights after the awards have been granted, please contact the ICDC Secretariat.
6. Entrants agree in advance that the Japan Mint to exhibit, publish or otherwise use submitted works for publicity purposes.
   Furthermore, award recipients agree in advance that the Japan Mint may use their award‑winning works, including the designs (in whole or in part) and related information such as design descriptions, for posting on the Japan Mint’s website, for inclusion in brochures related to the International Coin Design Competition, and for any other activities carried out by the Japan Mint’s operation.
7. In the event that a dispute with a third party occurs concerning copyright or any other rights in regard to the submitted works, the entrants shall bear responsibility for such disputes and shall resolve them themselves.
8. The Japan Mint cannot accept any inquiries concerning the results of the competition.
9. If non-compliance of any of the award-winning works with the entry rules is discovered,the award may be withdrawn.

ENTRY PROCEDURES

Please complete all required fields on the attached Application Form for the International Coin Design Competition 2026, affix it to the reverse side of your design, and submit it to the address below.

The personal information collected from the entrants will be used only for the management of the competition.

ADDRESS FOR ENTRIES

Japan Mint
Attention: ICDC 2026 Secretariat
1-79 Temma 1-chome
Kita-ku, Osaka
530-0043 JAPAN
(Please write “COIN DESIGN” in red on the envelope.)

JUDGING RESULTS

Award-winners will be informed of the results of the judging by the end of November, 2026.

Note:

Information on the award-winning works will be published on the Japan Mint website (https://www.mint.go.jp/eng/enjoy-eng/event-eng/competition-eng). Unsuccessful entrants will not be informed.

ORGANIZER

Japan Mint

JURY

KAWASUMI Shigemi
(Sculptor/ Medallist, Former Chief Officer for Design of Japan Mint / Japan Art Medal Association Member)

IINO Ichiro
(Chaser, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts)

HOSHINA Toyomi
(Contemporary artist, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts)

President of Japan Mint

Senior Designer of Product Development Division, Japan Mint

INQUIRIES TO:

Japan Mint
Attention: ICDC 2026 Secretariat
Tel: +81-6-6351-2628
Fax: +81-6-6351-6529
E-mail:ICDC-sec@mint.go.jp