In celebration of marking 40 years in publication, Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump has announced that they will hold a “Jump Super Anime Tour”. This fall will see the tour visiting 10 cities across Japan while displaying new anime specials for Dragon Ball and One Piece.

The “Jump Super Anime Tour” will be one of eight projects that mark the 40th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine.

[ Muhyojo via ANN ]

Remember these guys? Masato Nakatsuji, the former 24-year-old Osaka Electro-Communication University graduate student is being charged with copyright violation for the usage of Clannad images as well as defamation of another student.

The Defamation charge was brought about due to his usage of the photograph of a fellow student in an attempt to displace the blame from himself by leading police to the other student.

Although he may have embedded Trojan Horses, Viruses, and other Malware within these images, Japan does not have laws against such and therefore he is not being charged with any crimes in relation to doing so.

Nakajutsi has acknowledged the creation of these images and their malware as being to place hindrance upon Winny - the file-sharing network in which he distributed these images - and also as something he just did “for fun”. Prosecutors are seeking a two year prison sentence.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun [ via ANN ]

I was just browsing GaijinPot (a site for finding jobs in Japan) and noticed that J-List have recently added a job posting which is very relevant to us otakus.

The job is for an anime-related product description writer/web designer. A snippet from the description is as follows:

The job is for a description writer who can write interesting descriptions for the products our website. Ability to write interesting and informative descriptions that will add value to our image with customers. Ability to use Adobe Photoshop to aid in web graphic creation and InDesign to help make magazine ads is also a plus. We’re looking for someone with a passion for Japanese pop culture and the desire to be involved with one of the most famous companies selling Japanese animation related products directly from Japan. NOTE: if you don’t know what Fate/stay night, Newtype and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are, unfortunately you won’t have the skills we’re looking for and you should not apply.

To qualify you must currently reside in Japan and have passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test at level 2 or above.

Full details at: Gaijin Pot

In an attempt to reach the Japanese market, Disney is partnering with Toei Animation in order to create three television shows using Toei’s Computer Generating technology. In addition, Disney will be partnering with Madhouse Co. and Jinni’s Animation Studio.

Disney will be starting out with a short animated film project about a robot which is scheduled to debut in the Japanese market this May.

This partnership provides both Toei and Disney with business opportunities. For Disney, it provides them an opportunity to expand outside of its traditional market and expand its image from the traditional style of The Little Mermaid, Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, and other Intellectual Properties. It also provides Toei - which is responsible for animations such as Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Voltron, and Digimon - with a wider market outside of Japan through Disney’s vast network of distribution.

Source: Forbes [via a geek by any other name] .

Update: According to ANN, Disney will be producing a Lilo & Stitch! spinoff, currently titled Stitch!, in conjuction with Madhouse Co.. Additionally, the name of the previously mentioned Robot series in conjunction with Toei will be titled Robodies. Additionally, Disney is also planning to release a 3D rendered animation film short titled Fireball.  Fireball is a comedy set in the near future on another planet and centers on the character by the name of Rosselle and her two steward robots. All these productions are being created specifically for the Japanese market.

The Tokyo International Anime Fair’s homepage is announcing that a scheduled press event for March 30th, 2008 during the convention will be used for hosting a formal public announcement of Appleseed: Genesis.

The series will be presented in a 3D Computer Generated format which will be directed by Romanov Higa ( Urda, Catblue Dynamite, Tank Police Dominion Tank S.W.A.T. 01).

Source: Tokyo Anime [via Moon Phase via AnimeNation]

To gets fans more excited about the soon to be released PS2 game Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi, Akihabara retailer Messe Sanoh have put a life-size Haruhi figure outside their store.

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Anican, a Japanese magazine, have recently published a list of their readers’ top seiyuu (voice actors) for 2007. Fukuyama Jun came out on top in the top male listing, while Horie Yui topped the female charts.

The top five male and top five female seiyuu were as follows:

Top Female Seiyuu 2007

1. Horie Yui
2. Hirano Aya
3. Mizuki Nana
4. Tamura Yukari
5. Kugimiya Rie

Top Male Seiyuu 2007

1. Fukuyama Jun
2. Sugita Tomokazu
3. Houshi Souichirou
4. Miyano Mamoru
5. Sakurai Takahiro

Source: hashihime

Three users of the popular Japanese P2P application Winny were arrested today, 24th January 2008, charged with uploading anime images/video, in violation of Japanese copyright law.

In Japan it is legal to download copyrighted material, however uploading unauthorized copyrighted material - as was the case for the three arrested - is illegal.

Two of the individuals are charged with uploading episode 23 of Idolmaster Xenoglossia, while the third is charged with uploading images from Clannad (as part of a virus he was trying to spread).

Source: ANN

Since its inception people have been building innovative mashup applications using the Google Maps API. The otaku niche has so far been unexploited, but thanks to a new mashup by Akihabara Channel this is no longer the case.

The aim of the mashup, aptly named ‘Akihabara Map‘, is to show the location of all the otaku related shops in Akiba (Doujin, Figures, etc). English-language reviews of each store are available by a simple click of the corresponding placeholder pin. Additionally, stores displayed can be filitered to reflect your personal preferences.

I will hopefully be going to Japan next summer, so this map, and my copy of ‘Cruising The Anime City: An Otaku Guide To Neo Tokyo‘, will no doubt come in handy.

Link: http://akiba-ch.com/map/

Media Create, a marketing research group for the entertainment sector (similar to Nielsen Ratings), has issued a white paper for the 2008 Otaku Industry (yes, Otaku-dom is seen as an industry). According to this white paper, Japan’s otaku market stands at approximately $1.651 billion USD or ¥186.88 billion JPY.

The report breaks down as follows (thanks to ANN):

On the other side of the map, ICv2 has released a report on the North American otaku market which expands on the details they provided during a conference at the New York Anime Festival earlier this month, during which time they estimated the market to stand at $400 million USD for DVD Sales and $200 million USD for manga sales.