The award was originally called the Kodansha Children's Manga Award (講談社児童まんが賞, Kōdansha Jidō Manga Shō) until 1968.

In 1970, it was named Kodansha Cultural Award: Children's manga category (講談社出版文化賞 児童まんが部門, Kōdansha Shuppan Bunka Shō: Jidō Manga Bumon).

[1] The award once was given out in four categories: shōnen, shōjo, children, and general.

The award was formalized into the present ceremony with initially offering categories only for shōnen and shōjo in 1977.

[2] Each winning work will be honored with a bronze statuette, a certificate, and a prize of 1 million yen (about US$7,500).