A meeting of the Ministry of Finance's Fiscal System Council’s revealed an improvement plan for the Cool Japan Fund, a public/private fund set up by the Japanese government to invest in Japanese pop culture/industry initiatives overseas. More after the jump!
On November 3, Japanese Government announced 3,999 Japanese citizens and 119 foreigners who will receive awards under the 2022 Autumn Conferment of Decorations for their achievements in various fields, which included manga artist Moto Hagio, well-known for her The Poe Clan series. Check out her delightful comments after the jump!
It seems the time of Cool Japan, at least from an investment perspective, is coming to a close. At a Ministry of Finance subcommittee meeting on June 20, it was revealed that the Cool Japan Fund, a public/private fund set up by the Japanese government, is 30.9 billion yen (US$228.9 million) in debt and may close. More details after the jump.
The Japanese government announced 688 recipients of the Medal of Honor for the spring of 2022 on April 28. 21 recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon, awarded to those who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of academics, sports, culture and the arts, included anime/tokusatsu director Hideaki Anno, known for his Evangelion series. Hit the jump for more details.
Ken Akamatsu, the creator of Love Hina and UQ Holder! has weighed in on the topic of the new cosplay regulations that we previously reported on in late-January. The regulations are being looked at by the Japanese government to protect both the cosplayer and the copyright holder as there are no laws currently in place. See what he said and updates on the situation after the jump!
With cosplay becoming more and more popular, and more people earning money for their cosplays, the Japanese government has decided to look into new rules to regulate copyright disputes between cosplayers and IP owners. More details after the jump.
Aqours wants to make sure you're safe while spending time on the internet because you just don't know what's out there on the deep dark web. To spread cyber safety awareness, the girls from Love Live! Sunshine!! are teaming up with the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) to collaborate on the endeavor. Check out the exclusive poster and more information after the jump!
The Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare in Japan announced today that freelancers in the "entertainment industry" and those who work in "animation production" will be able to receive workers' accident compensation insurance, a scheme usually only reserved for those who are employed by a company. More details after the jump!
The Japanese Government's Fisheries Agency (an external bureau of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) has published a new pamphlet "Rules and Manners of Recreational Fishing" featuring a newly-drawn illustration of the TV anime Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater on its cover. Check out sample pages after the jump!
The multimedia regional revitalization project Onsen Musume announced on June 24 that it has started receiving official support from Japan Tourism Agency. The project was launched in November 2016, and its various efforts to stimulate the local tourism market and businesses are highly praised by the Japanese government. Hit the jump for more details.
Today on November 3, Japanese Government announced 4,079 Japanese citizens and 135 foreigners who will receive awards under the 2018 Autumn Conferment of Decorations for their achievements in various fields. 87-year-old Koichi Sugiyama, internationally known as the music composer for the popular video game series Dragon Quest, is one of the 1,891 civilians. Hit the jump for more details.
Today on November 2, the Japanese government's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced the 797 recipients of the 2018 Autumn Conferment of Decorations, including 59-year-old anime director Keiichi Hara. He is best known for his directorial works for the Crayon Shin-chan TV anime and film series based on the late Yoshito Usui's comedy manga of the same name. Hit the jump for more details.
On May 12, the project team of the Liberal Democratic Party's Special Mission Committee on the Cool Japan strategy decided on a policy to promote the construction of new national facilities that collect and preserve manga and anime's original drawings by development of the related laws. Hit the jump for more details.
As previously reported, 46-year-old Japanese rock singer Takanori Nishikawa (T.M. Revolution) joined the Anime Japan 2017 event to attend his inauguration ceremony as councillor for the Manga-Anime Guardians Project on March 26. Check out the report and photos from the event after the jump.