Human resource development in manga and international collaboration

　The control committee of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology “Anime/Manga Industry/Academic/Government Collaboration Consortium” was held recently. The policy handles curriculum development, digital production support, and career advancement support for human resource development in anime and manga. I serve as the chairperson of the committee. 　We are especially rushing the digital compatibility. 　Digital books and magazines sales were ¥10.13 billion in 2013. Among those, comics were ¥7.31 billion. 70% of digital...

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Digital Manga Campus Match

　The effort started to recruit students who are aspiring cartoonists to submit their works, get them judged by cartoonists and creators, involve editorial departments from major comic magazines, discover talent, and lead to business. 　70 schools including universities and vocational schools participate. 30 comic editorial departments from 10 companies including Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan provide outlets. I am the executive committee chairperson. 　I greeted the group at the kick-off gathering. 　When I was little, I wanted to become...

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Workshop Collection 10!

　The 10th Workshop Collection was held at Aoyama Gakuin University in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was packed with various projects as a new initiative to compile and to take a new step. 　In addition to diverse genres including molding, craft, digital, video, music, and dance as well as more than 100 workshop programs, there were numerous booths that utilized new technologies such as learning programming, 3D printer, and robot that are surging around...

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