Seiun Award

The Seiun Award (星雲賞, Seiunshō?) is a Japanese speculative fiction award for the best science fiction published in Japan during the preceding year, as voted by attendees of the Japan Science Fiction Convention. "Seiun" is the Japanese word for "nebula", but the award is not related to the American Nebula Award, and is actually the Japanese equivalent to the Hugo Award. It was named after first professional science fiction magazine in Japan, which appeared in 1954. The professional works released in the previous calendar year are eligible for vote. If the work is part of a series, the entire series is eligible when the series is finished as well. The Federation of Science Fiction Fan Groups of Japan selects several works for each category and issues the candidate list, but voter may write in any eligible work outside the list.