Tamron, Headquartered in 'Railway Town Omiya,' Opens Call for Entries for the '19th Tamron Railway Landscape Contest: My Favorite Railway Landscape Best Shot' Today

Tamron Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Shogo Sakuraba, Headquarters: Saitama City), a comprehensive optical equipment manufacturer, will begin accepting entries for the "19th Tamron Railway Landscape Contest: My Favorite Railway Landscape Best Shot" (hereafter "this contest") today, April 23, 2026. The contest has been held annually since 2008 with the aim of contributing to regional revitalization and the promotion of railway and photography culture.

At the same time, we would like to announce that this contest will conclude with its upcoming 20th milestone edition in 2027.

As a company headquartered in the "Railway Town of Omiya," we have held this contest as part of our social contribution activities to revitalize the local community and promote railway and photography culture. In recent years, it has grown to receive as many as 7,000 entries annually, expanding into one of Japan's leading railway photo contests with over 117,000 cumulative submissions from more than 31,000 participants (aggregate number).

Based on this, we have determined that we have fulfilled our initial objective of "promoting railway and photography culture," and have made the decision to bring it to a close with the 20th edition in 2027.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the applicants and relevant parties who have supported this contest to date. For the remaining two iterations, our secretariat looks forward to seeing wonderful works filled with your "passion for railways."

◆ 18th Tamron Railway Landscape Contest Grand Prize Winners (Total entries: 7,308) General Category Grand Prix [Saitama Mayor's Award] "Fugaku E5 View (Series)" by Shigeru Shimizu U-18 (Under 18) Category Grand Prix [Saitama City Board of Education Superintendent's Award] "Waiting in Vain" by Heru Tanida

◆ 19th Tamron Railway Landscape Contest Overview "19th Tamron Railway Landscape Contest" Special Page (Please see here for details) https://www.tamron.com/jp/special/contest/train2026/

<How to Apply> Please apply via the "Application Form" on the special page above. Only JPEG format image data under 10MB can be submitted. Up to 10 single photos per person can be submitted. *Starting this year, in line with changes in application trends due to recent digitalization, we will abolish "print applications" and unify them into "web applications."

<Application Period> Thursday, April 23, 2026 - Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 23:59 (JST)

<Judges> ■ Photographer Naotaka Hirota Started railway photography in junior high school. Active as a freelance photographer since 1960. Appealed his unique world of expression to society with his first solo exhibition "Steam Locomotives." Served as the first president of the Japan Railway Photographers Association.

Photo Writer Naomi Yano A "photo writer" who takes photos and writes while traveling domestically and internationally. Known affectionately as the "Original Tetsuko" due to her love for railway travel. Serves as a judge for lectures and photo contests.

Photographer Masaki Kanamori Started railway photography at the invitation of a junior high school classmate. Became a freelance photographer in 1996. Photographing the last sleeper limited express "Sunrise" is his life's work. Self-proclaimed two-way player in the railway photography world, photographing model railways as well.

<Application Categories> ■ "General Category" ■ "U-18 (Under 18) Category" <Those up to 17 years old at the time of application> *Parental consent is required as all applicants are minors.

<Prizes> Cash prizes of 20,000 yen or less will be substituted with the presentation of an Amazon gift card (common to all categories).

General Category Grand Prix: 300,000 yen, Tamron Lens (1 winner) Runner-up: 50,000 yen, Tamron Lens (2 winners) Unique/Humor Award: Amazon Gift Card 20,000 yen (2 winners) Winning Entry: Amazon Gift Card 20,000 yen (5 winners) Honorable Mention: Amazon Gift Card 10,000 yen (10 winners)

U-18 Category Grand Prix: 100,000 yen, Tamron Lens (1 winner) Runner-up: 30,000 yen, Tamron Lens (2 winners) Unique/Humor Award: Amazon Gift Card 10,000 yen (2 winners) Winning Entry: Amazon Gift Card 10,000 yen (5 winners) Honorable Mention: Amazon Gift Card 5,000 yen (10 winners)