About the JAPAN CUP

The Japan Cup is an award which JCMA (Japan Close up Magicians Association) will present every year. The inaugural Japan Cup was presented in March 21st, 2002. It is designed to recognise contributions to the field ofmagical art by magicians around the world. The voting is carried out from January 1 to January 31 to choose the winner from the previous year. Anyoneis eligible to vote either via website, fax or mail for a fee of \3,000(Japanese yen) and any donation appreciated. Each voter can freely name five names for each category for the Japan Cup as follows.

All voters will receive a copy of the awards program that also contains articles, tricks, and essays from magicians in the world in Japanese and for the most part in English also. The collected fees are to be used in the promotion of the Japan Cup.

（1）Type of Awards

JAPANCUP

The Japan Cup winner* is given an elaborate custom made trophy of an approximate value \200,000 (about $1,600). The winners name and the year won is inscribed on the base of trophy for that year until a new winner is decided. When all the spaces are filled in, in 2100, the trophy will then be showcased in an appropriate museum.

*Mr. Tomohiro Maeda was the first ever award winner in 2002. In addition to the Trophy, Mr. Maeda received a cash award of \1,000,000 (more than $8,300). The cash award may vary from year to year and is based on the number of voters in that year.

Awards

1.Magician of The Year

2.The Best Close-Up Magician

3.Magic Circle Japan Awards

Given to the greatest contribution to theMagic Circle Japan.

4.Meritorious Service Award

Given to the person who did the most topromote the art of magic.

5.Media Award

Given to the best promotion of magic in print (lecturenotes, books, or articles), imaging or broadcasting.

（2）Vote

Japan Cup Voting Committee

Japan Cup Voting Committee: The Committee, whose members are selected
geographically, represent all parts of Japan equally, collect the Japan Cup
ballots. Then, the Committee decides the finalists based on the balloting.
The Committee makes adjustments to equalize the voting between magicians
within Japan and those outside Japan. The Committee arranges the booking of
the awards ceremony. Awards are only given to those persons who can attend
the event.

（3）Ceremony

Japan Cup Ceremony

The JCMA will give out the Japan Cup awards according to the decision of the Committee at the Japan Cup ceremony on the nearest Sunday to March 21* in Tokyo. During the Japan Cup awards presentations, all five finalists will make a speech and receive trophies at the event. Then the attendees of the award ceremony will then vote for the Japan Cup winner based on the general impression of the attendees and their knowledge of the reputations of the 5(or more) finalists.(There could be two or more in any one category.) The final balloting will decide whom the winner of the Japan Cup.

*The JPMA (Japan Professional Magicians Association) has their annual party on December 3. Numerically the date is 12/3 and is read One...Two...Three. This is in reference to the magicians patter prior to the denouement of a routine, "One...Two...Three." The Japan Cup date of March 21 or 3/21 is the reverse, "Three...Two...One." These three number sequences are easy to remember and held in high regard among Japanese magicians. However, as a general rule, we will have our Japan Cup Awards ceremony on the nearest Sunday to March 21 for the convenience to the attendees or finalists.

A special gift

JCMA provides a special gift for attendees or donators.