Hobby Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Daisuke Matsushita) announced the launch of a special page for the "Kaidan Contest 2026: Scary Stories Related to the ○○ Family," a collaborative project with Takushobo's Kaidan Bunko, on its web novel submission site "Novel Up+" on June 29 (Mon). ◆ Contest Overview An annual summer event hosted on "Novel Up+," this year marks the fifth iteration of the Kaidan (ghost story) Contest. Building on last year's success, which featured the popular YouTube channel "Kowai Hanashi Kaidan Roudoku," this year's contest welcomes a major new partner: Takushobo's Kaidan Bunko, renowned for its real-life horror anthologies—making this year's event bigger than ever. The Grand Prize winner will receive a guaranteed publication slot in an upcoming horror anthology to be released by Takushobo's Kaidan Bunko. Additionally, all prize-winning entries will be guaranteed to be adapted into read-aloud videos on "Kowai Hanashi Kaidan Roudoku," a YouTube channel with over 220 million total views. Special judges for this year include Shinji Matsumura, a renowned storyteller known as "Kaidan-ya"; Sandoha Jin, a noted collector and author of true horror stories; and Higan, the administrator of the aforementioned YouTube channel. We look forward to receiving many submissions this year. Submission Categories We are accepting horror stories in the following three categories: 1 True Horror Category: Theme "Scary Stories Related to the ○○ Family" 2 True Horror Category: Free Theme 3 Fiction Category Schedule Submission Period Start July 10, 2026 (Fri) 12:00 PM Submission Deadline September 30, 2026 (Wed) 11:59 PM Results Announcement January 2027 (tentative) *Schedule is subject to change depending on the number of entries received. Thank you for your understanding. Awards and Prizes 🏆 Grand Prize Selected from True Horror Category (up to 2 works) 30,000 yen worth of Amazon gift card Guaranteed inclusion in an anthology to be