On the 25th of December, a report from the child protection society (the same group mentioned in this article) concluded that "30% of seijin manga (adult manga) contain depiction of sexual intercourse involving children, and juveniles are able to purchase such manga via the internet."

The child protection group, which also serves as the personal advisory group of Metropolitan Police Life Safety Director Yutaka Takehana, points out that the current situation is hurting the "Harmful Book Act," and suggests that measures be taken to prevent the sales of adult manga to juveniles.

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MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog (NSFW).

On December 18th, Japan's largest online retailer Amazon.co.jp opened a new section on its website called "Otaku Store." The store, which specializes in anime, manga, games and figurine products, currently holds over 30,000 items. Otaku Store aims to increase sales of ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) products by providing a faster service for ACG fans.

It's worth noting that Amazon chose the word "Otaku," which has a negative connotation to Japanese fans, as the name of its store. One of the reason for such a name could be to attract more foreign shoppers. It remains to be seen whether the name of the new store will help drive sales for the new Japanese store.

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Akiba Angels interviews Moe artist Houmitsu, the creator of the Neko-mimi series. Also mentioned is a tutorial from Houmitsu that illustrates how to create Anime-style drawing based on real photographic images (the tutorial took 18 hours to complete).

In the world of Moe-education, first there was Moetan (English), then came Moe Economics (Economics), Kabu de Ikou! (Stock Trading), Tsundere Linux (Linux), and most recently Moe X Shogi (Shogi). This month Nihon Bungeisha released a new moe-themed cookbook titled "Love Cook - Maid Cafe in Your Home -". The cookbook contains 126 full-color pages filled with recipes of the most popular foods found in today's maid cafe, such as Mapo Tofu, Beef Curry, Peperonchino (a kind of coffee), and more.

MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog (NSFW).

MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog (NSFW).

MangaCast translates the weekly Doujinshi ranking in Japan (12/02) according to Toranoana Akihabara, compiled by Akiba Blog.

Japanese blog Umeboshi Chaduke points out a recent proposal submitted by a certain child protection society, which aims to prevent "evil practices against children." The file submitted proposed plans to deal with products that contain depiction of sexual activities involving children (Lolicon) in Japan.

Yutaka Takehana, the Metropolitan Police Life Safety Director, has given his full support for the implementation of this policy. However, it remains to be seen whether the proposed policies will actually be implemented as part of the child pornography law in Japan.

Below is a brief description of the report (PDF):

1. Current Condition:

• To manage and reinforce existing child protection laws as much as possible.

2. To promote efforts of independent publishers and content providers:

• Publishers, stores, bulletin board managers, content providers, etc.:

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Ikaros Shobo, known for its many moe-related books such as Moe at Tank School, recently released a new book called Introduction to the Magic of Shogi, a book that teaches its readers how to play shogi through seven cute characters. Although the book is scheduled to go on sale on November 6th, many copies appeared in stores on November 1st.

According to Akiba Blog, a note on the cover of the book:

The amazing content of this book is something that cannot be found in traditional shogi books. Seven beauties transform themselves into shogi pieces to teach you the difficult rules of shogi, how to use each piece effectively, and secret techniques to winning shogi games. You will be able to learn shogi by trying to find out more about the girl you like.

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