Suginami Ward is looking for Animes and Mangas relavant to Fukushima

Source:Tokyo Shinbun

Suginami Ward is collecting Animes and Mangas under the theme of Fukushima incident for a festival which will be held this autumn.

This festival has been annually held by people who are involve in Anime in the same area. The purpose of which is to find younger anime creators and then train them. There are usually no themes. However, for this year they have decided to use a theme called "Fukishima Animation" in addition to general collections. They are collecting local short films and mangas , as well as international ones. This is in response to the Fukishima Daichi nuclear disaster.

The organizer said that, "We want this activity to be an opportunity for thinking over what animes and mangas can do for the nuclear accident” This event is open for prospective professional and amateur applicants alike. They are accepting works until the end of August. Here is the contact info for inquiries.
HP:Laputa International Animation Festival
Tel:+81-3-5327-3786 

Fax:+81-3-5327-7655
Email: n-workshop@laputa-jp.com

If you like creating animes or mangas, this is an ideal chance for you to showcase your arts to the public. Unfortunately, they did not provide any English information even if they are also looking for works from abroad. You need to fill out the application form and then send it, but it's only available in Japanese...

Fan spent about 8.8 milliion Yen($109.000US) to buy 5,500 CDs of an idol group, AKB48.

AKB48, which is consisted of a 56-japanese-girl-idol group, is known as a national icon of Japan as of now. At the start of their career, their popularity was limited on their male fans who frequently visited AKB48's own theater in Akihabara, also known as the Mecca of Otaku (Japanese term for a sacred place of geeks). However, they quickly started attracting a wide range of people with their charming appearance and delightful music which were written by a famous Japanese record producer, Yasushi Akimoto. Now, their activity is not only performing live in the theater but you can also see them in many Japanese TV programs like dramas, movies and commercials.

They are called AKB48. The number "48" doesn't indicate the amount of members. It fluctuates seasonally.

AKB48 has been in an election since May 24th to choose the top 21 members who will be featured to sing the next AKB48 song and also appear on TV shows, while others working on the supplemental songs in the album. Buying their new song “Everyday、Katyusha(Everyday、カチューシャ)” , entitles you with a right to vote for your favorite member. The mechanics is that, you need a serial number which can be found in every CD of the said song, and then enter the number in their official website. However, this voting system has driven some of their fans crazy. A fan allegedly bought 5,500 of their CDs which cost presumably about 8.8 million Yen($109.000US) so that his favorite member will be able to win. Another fan spent about 4 million Yen($50,000US) to buy 2,000 CDs.

This is the guy who bought 5, 500 CDs. At first glance, he doesn't look like a man who has such a large amount of money. 

Who are going to win? Will the fans who shelled out buckets of money, be able to win? The result of this election will be revealed on 9th of June.