Categories, Voting, & Awards
Once videos are submitted, RICE participants suggest which categories (and their names) should be used during the event. These can range from common categories like "Best Drama" to more obscure/funny ones like "Best Food."
The top voted-for categories will be the ones that receive awards at the end of the event.
The amount of categories/awards scales with the number of video entries. Each winner of these categories will receive only an award certificate.
Category Award Scaling
≤ 49 videos → 8 categories
50 - 70 videos → 10 categories
71+ videos → 12 categories
Permanent Awards
In addition to the above category awards, there are some permanent awards:
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The Omurice Award (
オムライス・アワード)
This is the most-liked video overall, as voted on by RICE participants. It cannot be renamed, and the winner claims a unique RICE-related sticker in addition to the award certificate. -
The Omakase Award (
お任せ・アワード)
The coordinator awards this to their favorite video. It may have a different name when given. The winner also receives a unique RICE-related sticker along with their certificate. -
The Okonomi Award (
お好み・アワード)
The previous year's winner of the Omurice Award gives this to their favorite video. It is similar to an honorable mention, and may have a different name when awarded. The recipient of the Okonomi Award receives a special double-sided award certificate. -
The Umami (
旨味)
The Umami is the most-liked themed video. The theme is changed every year and is announced at the end of the previous year's RICE Awards video.
The coordinator chooses the theme, but the entrants ultimately decide what videos qualify and win the Umami. The winner of this award receives a unique RICE-related sticker along with their certificate.
Participation in the theme is optional and has no bearing on the other awards. -
NEW in 2024: The Tamago Don (
玉子丼)
Voted on by all RICE participants, this is awarded to the most-liked video that did not make finals. -
The Wandering Samurice (
ライス・ア・ロニン)
This prize is unattached to a category when the event begins. Once entry submission has closed and the initial categories have been finalized, entrants will vote on which category should receive the Wandering Samurice. It cannot be combined with any permanent awards.
The Wandering Samurice prize is a sticker of the wandering samurice character, which is shipped in addition to the category's original award certificate.More on how Wandering Samurice works
Because not every category has a prize associated with it, The Wandering Samurice exists as a sort of wildcard prize that goes to the winner of a category participants select.
Participants vote where to place the Wandering Samurice during Finalist Voting, and the winning category is not revealed until the awards show.
As an example, let's say there are 3 categories: Drama, Cats, and Foods.
Normally, the winners of these categories would only receive an award certificate, and nothing else.
Perhaps the Drama category has more finalists than usual, and you want to give an extra prize to whoever wins this category. In this case, you would vote for The Wandering Samurice to go to Drama.
Or, maybe the Cats category only has 3 finalists, but all the videos are extremely good. You could put The Wandering Samurice here, so the editors of videos in that category know you really liked their idea!
Voting Phases
Category Submission
Also called Category Suggestion or Nomination.
The form for this opens as soon as videos have been distributed, and it marks the official start of RICE. As participants watch the videos, they may categorize them however they like, or submit any category that comes to mind that fits at least a few videos.
All submitted categories will move to the next phase. There is no category limit at this time.
There are no limitations for what categories can be submitted. They may be serious or funny. There is a tradition of trying to make food-related names for the category, but this is not required.
Category nomination is public. Participants are able to see all categories that have been suggested as they are submitted.
A category need only be submitted one time to become part of the roster for the next round of voting.
Common Category Questions
Do I need to suggest common categories like Best Drama?
Yes, but you don't need to write a description for them.What type of categories should I submit?
Any category you want, as long as 4+ videos could fit into it!They can be serious or silly categories.
Do I have to nominate categories? Should I submit a category someone else did because I want it too?
No. If the category is submitted one time by any user, it will become part of the Category Finalization form in the next step.If all the categories you would've nominated have already been posted, then you don't have to do anything. 😎
Someone already suggested the category I want, but I want it to have a different name!
Submit the custom category name, and in the description, say it's a rename of the other category.Category Finalization
Once the deadline for category suggestion has passed, the coordinator gathers the submitted categories, discards any duplicates, and groups similar categories and category titles together.
Participants then use a new (private) form to submit their votes for which categories and/or category names they want to see in the contest. The top 8 - 12 most voted for categories/names will become the official category awards moving forward.
Video Nomination
Participants vote on which videos they would like to see win the all the category awards from the previous phase, plus Umami and Omurice. There is no limit to how many videos they can vote for. Videos may fit in more than one category.
The top 5 videos in every category become finalists and move to the next phase.
Finalist Voting
The top 5 videos (sometimes more due to ties) from the previous round are voted on again. The winners from this round will become the winners of the RICE awards.
Additionally, participants will vote on the following:
- Which non-finalist video should win Tamago Don
- The category Wandering Samurice should be assigned
- The date and time the Awards show is most convenient