According to Rumic World, starting with issue 34, Shogakukan's Shonen Sunday will offer two Rumiko Takahashi offset prints for 1,000 yen, with each piece chosen by Takahashi herself. The deal will end after Shonen Sunday issue 38.

Source: Rumic World

International Manga Awards runner-up Madeleine Rosca has posted Part 3 of her International Manga Award trip to Japan.

Top 10 manga (7/25) according to Tohan:

1. Detective Conan, Volume 58
2. Mahou Sensei Negima!, Volume 19
3. Hayate the Combat Butler, Volume 12
4. Kekkaishi, Volume 17
5. Tenjho Tenge, Volume 17
6. Kindaichi Case Files: The Case of the Snow Spirit Legend Murder, Part I & II
7. Fairy Tail, Volume 5
8. Inuyasha, Volume 50
9. One Piece, Volume 46
10. Sprout, Volume 2

Additional Rankings:

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GoodsTrain will be launching a new label titled TwinTail for publishing novels, drama CDs and other PC games-related books. The new label, to be launched on August 24t, will start with a novel, a Drama CD and a fanbook:

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The residents in the neighborhood of Washinomiya Jinja Shrine, Kuki city, Saitama Prefecture are particularly nervous this months due to an increase in strangers. Because Washinomiya Jinja and its surrounding area is the setting of the anime Lucky???Star (based on a 4-koma of the same name), fans are rushing to this area, calling it the "holy site."

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ANN reports that volunteers in the Illustrated Braille Club from the Japanese town Kitajima are working on transcribing??Momoko Sakura's??new Chibi Maruko-chan manga into Braille (raised dots) for those who are blind and visually impaired:

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On June 12, a business tie-up between the #1 cellular phone novel website Mahou no Island and MediaWorks (the publisher of the #1 light novel label Dengeki Bunko) was formed. As a result, a new bunko label titled Mahou no Island Bunko (temporary title) will start in fall 2007.

This bunko will feature novels from Mahou no Island's extensive line-up, and will be published by MediaWorks every month. The price will be between 530-570 yen for each book.

Source: CNET Japan

TokoToko Editor's Misc. Note, a blog run by a female manga editor who has been in the business for over 15 years, has posted a multi-part article titled "The Reason I Quit as a Manga Editor." Below is a translation of part three of the article:

The Reason I Quit My Job as a Manga Editor Part III

*For the sake of comparison, the bulk of this entry is about the work environment at my first publisher.

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According to Meteor, a short manga titled Reibaishi Izuna ~the spiritual medium~ by Okano Takeshi and Makura Shou will start in the August issue of Oh SUPER JUMP. The manga will feature Haduki Izuna from the Jigoku Sensei Nube (Hell Teacher Nube) series.

According to Canned Dogs:

This is also the first time the authors are working together since 2000. The authors had supposedly went their separate ways soon after Nube ended because of some disputes and also because their 2nd comic was received very badly.

One of the three Winny file-sharer arrested on May 18 for uploading manga to Japan's Winny file-sharing system was found guilty on June 20th. According to the report, the 29-year-old defendant from Osaka will be facing 1 year of prison and 3 years of probation.

Source: Asahi Shimbun