The honors achievement and outstanding talent in any of the myriad fields in which its namesake Juzo Itami worked, including essay writing, non-fiction literature, translation, film editing and directing, cooking, television, TV commercials, acting, illustration, and graphic design. The prize, worth million, is presented annually by the ITM Itami Memorial Foundation in collaboration with Itami Productions.
The selection committee comprises film director Masayuki Suo, architect , essayist , and illustrator .
The Juzo Itami Award was established in March 2009, twelve years after Itami's death, with the help of his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto. Originally focusing on excellence in literary expression in odd-numbered years and visual expression in even-numbered years, its two categories were unified and its cadence changed to yearly in 2011.
In 2013, journalist Akira Ikegami donated his entire monetary award to the World Food Programme.