According to Sankei Shumbun, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affair has designed a 16-page Detective Conan pamphlet aimed at educating students on foreign affairs.

Source: Manga Pontification

On April 9th, Japanese yaoi publisher Leaf Shuppan posted an official statement on its homepage announcing that it has filed for bankruptcy on the 9th of April.

Icarus Blog has more information on the bankruptcy:

Yuuhi Publishing, described as a "major publisher of BL novels," has fired off its entire staff without warning...

*Yuuhi publishes BL novels under the imprints "Leaf" and "Ai."

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According to Moon Phase, Inoue Takehiko's basketball web comic Buzzer Beater will be adapted into an anime. This marks the second time Buzzer Beater is adapted into an anime. The new anime will be aired in July.

Chapter one of Kazuo Maekawa's Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) is currently available on Young Jump's website. Gyakuten Saiban is a manga based on Capcom's popular game of the same name. In April, Shueisha moved the manga from Bessatsu Young Magazine (Young Magazine Extra Issue) to Young Magazine.

According to Manga Jouhou, Japanese internet service provider livedoor and publisher Takeshobo has announced a new award event called "4-Koma Manga Nouvelle Y-1 Grande Prix." The award event is a combination of Takeshobo's "Takeshobo Manga Nouvelle Prize" and livedoor's "Daily 4-koma Grand Prix." According to the report: "Judges for the new award include manga artists and editors from both Takeshobo and Livedoor, including Risu Akitsuki, Mikio Igarashi, Masashi Ueda, Yoshito Usui, Tsuyoshi Oohashi, Shou Tanaka, Miruku Dajima, Katsuhiko Hotta and Takayuki Mizushina."

The May issue of Monthly Shonen Jump came with a letter from its Editorial Department that talks about the suspension of Monthly Jump, and what will happen to its current serializations.

According to the letter, Norihiro Yagi's Claymore will be temporarily serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump; however, new chapters will still come out only once a month. A new manga magazine will be launched later this fall. The new magazine will continue the serialization of a majority of the Monthly Jump series, including Claymore. Below is a translation of the letter:

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Manga top 10 according to Tohan.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 16
2. Vagabond, Volume 25
3. Nana, Volume 17
4. Koukou Debut, Volume 8
5. Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, Volume 6
6. Fruits Baskek, Volume 23
7. Uwasa no Midori-Kun!!, Volume 2
8. Zipang, Volume 28
9. Sumomomo Momomo, Volume 7
10. Gunslinger Girl, Volume 8

Twelve one-shots were published in the latest issue of Shueisha's Mantarou 2007 (Special issue of Young Jump). According to Shueisha, readers will be able to vote for their favorite one-shot, and the work that receives the most vote will be serialized in Weekly Young Jump.

Via: Manga Jouhou

From The Japan Times comes an interviews with Rieko Saibara, a cartoonist whose work "known for her work that has both a lyrical and "rebellious" side to it."

Via: ??Journalista!

Two new light novel imprints were launched by Gakushuu Kenkyusha and Frontier Works in March:

Gakken:
- Moegi Bunko Purely [shoujo]
A new shoujo novel label that will cover "BL system" novels and "Otome system" novels.

Frontier Works:
- Filia Bunko [shoujo]