The winners of the 12th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award (sponsored by Asahi Shimbun) have been announced:

Grand Prize:

• Moyashimon (Tales of Agriculture) by Masayuki Ishikawa

Shinsei (New Hope) Award:

• Träumerei by oranosuke Shimada

Short Manga Prize:

• Gou-Gou Datte Neko De Aru by Yumiko Oshima

Special Award:

• International Institute for Children's Literature

Source: Anime! Anime!

Anime! Anime! reports that the nominees for the 12th Tezuka Cultural Awards have been announced in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Ten manga have been nominated for the award, they are:

• Umimachi Diary (1) Semishigure no Yamugoro by Akimi Yoshida [ Shogakukan ]
• Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga [ Hakusensha ]
• Kaijuu no Kodomo by Daisuke Igarashi [ Shogakukan ]
• Nana by Ai Yazawa [ Shueisha ]
• 81diver by Yokusaru Shibata [ Shueisha ]
• Moyashimon (Tales of Agriculture) by Masayuki Ishikawa [ Kodansha ]
• Ushijima the Loan Shark by Shohei Manabe [ Shogakukan ]
• Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma [ MediaWorks ]
• Lucu Lucu by Yoshitoo Asari [ Kodansha ]
• Red by Naoki Yamamoto [ Kodansha ]

The winners will be announced in early May. Go here for last year's winner.

The Age is reporting that a Japanese online bookstore called Papyless, which sells digital versions of books, is teaming up with Tezuka Production to make at least 448 stories by Osamu Tezuka available for purchase online in digital format:

Papyless, whose website is http://www.papy.co.jp/, said in a statement it would put the works online from March 18.

It will cost 105 yen ($A1.10) to read a volume over 48 hours.

Buying the work online will cost 315 yen ($A3.30) per volume.

Tokiwa-so (トキワ荘) is an apartment building in Shiinamachi, Tokyo, where now legendary but then up-and-coming mangaka such as Tezuka Osamu, Shotaro Ishinomori (Ishimori) and Fujio Akatsuka once lived, worked together, shared knowledge, and basically meeting up with colleagues and pitting their skills against each other.

In 1954, two young mangaka, Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko, moved into Tokiwa-so. The duo, better known by their pen name of Fujiko Fujio, worked alongside the likes of Tezuka, and went on to create Doraemon, which became one of the best-selling manga in the world. While Fujimoto, also known as Fujiko F. Fujio, passed away in 1996 due to an accident, Abiko, Fujiko Fujio (A) is still active in the manga scene.

An interview with Fujiko Fujio (A) was recently published in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine. In the interview, Fujiko Fujio (A) talks about the days he spent at Tokiwa-so, as well as his memories of his colleagues:

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From Comics212's Christopher Butcher comes a pictorial report of the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Japan. More photos can be found here.

Via: MangaBlog

According to the latest issue of PWCW, U.S. publisher Vertical will be bringing Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack to the U.S.:

Japanese pulp fiction and classic manga publisher Vertical Inc. announced plans to publish Black Jack, legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka's popular series about a genius surgeon, in its entirety beginning in fall 2008.

Via: ANN

Mainichi Shimbun and Mantan Web report that incomplete manuscript of Tezuka's Black Jack manga has been found for the first time. The manuscript will be exhibited at the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum, located in Tezuka's hometown of Takarazuka on October 30th.

From Animation Insider comes an interview with Writer, translator and interpreter Frederik L. Schodt, who talks about the works of Osamu Tezuka:

Writer, translator and interpreter Frederik L. Schodt once again joins Animation Insider to share his latest research and findings as they relate to Japanese arts and culture with the recent Stone Bridge Press publication The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution.

Via: MangaBlog

Osamu Tezuka's longtime manga editor, Nobumichi Akutsu (84), passed away on the 12th due to larynx cancer (some report it as brain cancer). As Tezuka's editor, Nobumichi Akutsu's name was used by Tezuka in some of his works. Akutsu was also the editor for Shueisha's Beet the Vandel Buster.

Sources: Mainichi, Yomiuri, Jiji

According to theOtaku, Tezuka Productions has announced that it plans to digitize and colorize all of Tezuka's manga. Anime! Anime! has another report, a translation of which can be found here.