Meow! Adobe is hosting a cat-themed photo contest in Japan

Adobe Japan Cat contest
(Image credit: Adobe Japan)

To coincide with National Cat Day, Adobe Japan has launched a creative social media photo contest on the theme of cats: the Adobe Nyan Contest 2023 ("nyan" being Japanese for "meow"). This covers both photography and videography, and doesn't discriminate on how the content is captured, whether through a professional camera or your basic smartphone camera. BUT - there is a small catch.

When editing your submission, it must have been processed using some form of Adobe Creative Cloud software, including but not limited to Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Rush, Premier Pro, and Adobe Express to name just a few. Entries not utilizing Adobe software are at risk of being excluded.

• Check out the best Adobe Photography Plan deals in 2023

Adobe Japan has launched a pretty niche photography competition beginning today through social media, and the theme is strictly feline. "We are looking for cat-themed photos and videos, such as your beloved cat at home or a cat you have taken yourself," says the announcement. This translation might be a little off, but you get the idea; any image with a cat as the subject is allowed. 

Despite being launched by Adobe Japan, the competition terms and conditions do not state anywhere that entrants must be from a certain area or region to enter the contest – but the prizes up for grabs are all in Japanese yen.

To enter, you must be following the official Adobe Japan Creative Cloud Twitter or Instagram accounts, and post your image with the hashtag #アドビにゃん (#Adobe Nyan) which must also be accompanied by one of the following hashtags: #写真部門 (#Photo Division), #動画部門 (#Video Division) or #猫大喜利部門 (#Cat Ogiri Division) depending on which you enter. 

This year, in addition to the usual Photo and Video categories, the company has added a new Cat Ogiri category. "Ogiri" was a pretty tough word to translate into English context, with most search results suggesting that it is some type of Locust bean used for soup recipes, with no relevance to either cats or photography. 

After digging a little deeper, I found that Ogiri can also refer to a type of storytelling that uses humor, so in the context of cats in a photo competition, it's safe to assume that funny cat memes will be the acceptable format to enter. The deadline for submitting to the competition is Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

(Image credit: Adobe Japan)

A long-airing Japanese TV program called Shōten seems to be responsible for what is commonly known as The Ogiri Style, whereby contestants and 'rakugo' storytellers must give a witty reply, or comical response, to a question asked by the show's host and get some laughs from audience members in return. 

Ogiri can also in other contexts refer to the last item of the show in classical Japanese popular performing arts, and Rakugo is known as a traditional Japanese verbal performance art and method of storytelling. I could of course be completely wrong about all of this, but as a monolingual journalist, this is the best I can do.

(Image credit: Adobe Japan)

The  #Adobe Nyan Photo/Movie/Cat Ogiri Contest 2023 should entice plenty of pet photographers to enter, but if the fun of editing cat photos alone isn't enough to convince you, then the contest rewards just might. The photo and video divisions are the ones that have the highest award, also including what the competition refers to as an Excellence Award. 

The grand prize for the photo division is an Amazon gift card worth ¥100,000 (equivalent to $745 / £614 / AU$1,088 approximately), and two people will also be selected for the Excellence Award and receive an Amazon gift card worth ¥50,000  (equivalent to $371 / £307 / AU$545 approximately). These will be exactly the same prizes and amounts for the Video division winners. 

The new Cat Ogiri division however only has an excellence award, but will select 5 winners as opposed to two to receive an Amazon gift card worth ¥30,000 (equivalent to $223 / £185 / AU$325 approximately). There is also a Petio Award prize this year for one person to win an assortment of kitty goods from Petio, a Japanese pet company, equivalent to ¥20,000 ( around $150 / £123 / AU$220). 

Just remember that, while the T&Cs don't explicitly prohibit foreign entries, it's unlikely that prizes (including Amazon vouchers) will be redeemable outside Japan. As with everything, the real fun is in taking part! 

You may also be interested in the best pet camera, as well as these big cat photo tips to capture Purr-fect cat portraits. Take a look at the winners from the Comedy Pet Photo Awards and watch as this cat karate chops a pet camera.

More of a dog lover? Check out these 15 cute dog pictures to brighten your day, plus learn how "Pupparazzi" pro-Kaylee Greer edits her images, and discover why my dog absolutely hates this pet camera and what we think of the new SpotCam Mibo pet camera.

Beth Nicholls
Freelance contributor

Beth kicked off her journalistic career as a staff writer here at Digital Camera World, but has since moved over to our sister site Creative Bloq, where she covers all things tech, gaming, photography, and 3D printing. With a degree in Music Journalism and a Master's degree in Photography, Beth knows a thing or two about cameras – and you'll most likely find her photographing local gigs under the alias Bethshootsbands. She also dabbles in cosplay photography, bringing comic book fantasies to life, and uses a Canon 5DS and Sony A7III as her go-to setup.

Read more
Woman stares a donkey in the face
These are the best photography awards to enter in 2025, ranked by deadline
A baby in a hospital in Gaza
The poignant, beautiful, and informative winners of the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2024
LCE Photographer of the Year 2025
Last chance to win LCE Photographer of the Year with a prize pot of £10,000!
Man walks across field carrying crops
Last chance to celebrate haute cuisine and enter the World Food Photography Awards 2025
GuruShots - Your Magazine Shot 2025
GuruShots: Winning images from the latest Your Magazine Shot photo challenge
Underwater image of a blue shark alongside a small fish, captured just beneath the surface
Urban fox trots to victory in British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025
Latest in Awards and Competitions
A winning image from the World Press Photo awards
These images are uncomfortable to look at. But that’s the point. Meet the winning World Press Photos
A monochromatic image, showing a girl that looks through a door or window with an obscure view
These are the winners from Digital Photographer's captivating portraits contest
Photograph titled The Fishing Boys, by Pyaephyo Thetpaing, winner of the 9th Xposure International Photography Awards
Beautiful black and white shot of boys fishing wins 9th Xposure International Photography Awards
Sally Mann. Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia, 1989 Gelatin silver print 8 x 10 inches © Sally Mann. Courtesy Gagosian.
Photography icon Sally Mann honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 CPW Vision Awards
‘Stranger Fruit’ by Tshepiso Moropa, 2025. Collage on Fabriano Paper
Art meets activism: 2025 V&A Parasol prize winners explore identity, community and resistance
Underwater image of a blue shark alongside a small fish, captured just beneath the surface
Urban fox trots to victory in British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025
Latest in News
Specta Mini drone hovering over a car and four people
Want to get around the DJI drone ban AND save? Meet the Specta Mini – cheap and USA-legal!
Potensic Atom SE drone
Drones deals with the power to impress - these Potensic drones are great!
Fujifilm Fujinon LA30x7.8 BRM-XB2
Fujifilm announces development of a new 30x zoom broadcast lens ahead of NAB 2025
Pergear CFexpress 4.0 Type A Master cards
Pergear launches new super-fast AND super-cheap CFexpress Type A cards
Rokinon AF 135mm f/1.8
Huge price drops on low-cost prime lenses for Sony and Fujifilm camera users
A sleek YoloCam S7 camera body with a vertical sensor, paired with a detachable lens against a dark backdrop
The YoloCam S7 gives a novel twist to the 4K streaming camera for those recording vertical video