Japanese idol Shoko Nakagawa (actress, seiyu, illustrator, singer and more), also known as Shokotan, will finally be able to achieve her "childhood dream" of becoming a mangaka with the debut of her six-part series Noushi no Koi in the upcoming issue of Ohta Shuppan's quarterly magazine Hon-nin (on sale 9/8).

Suorce: Tokyograph

Asahi.com reports that the NPO Kotoba no Atelier has started a new Tokiwa-so project to rent low-cost housing to young manga artists:

The NPO rented four old houses in Tokyo to accommodate young cartoonists. Rents in the communal homes run from 30,000 yen to 50,000 yen a month, including utilities and Internet fees. The artists sign yearly contracts, renewable for three years.

The Star Online reports that in order to promote its the Ballon bleu de Cartier, the newest watch in Cartier's 2007 watch collection, Cartier has commissioned comic artists from around the world to create a comic that will "illustrate the birth of the Ballon bleu de Cartier."

The artists invited include: "Moebius (the pseudonym used by French artist Jean Giraud), Japanese manga artist Jirô Taniguchi, British artist Glen Baxter, Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti, American Charles Burns, French artist Jean-Claude Floc’h and Belgian François Schuiten."

On June 10th, 4-koma mangaka Taizo Yokoyama (90) passed away in his home in Kanagawa Prefecture. The cuase of death was pneumonia. Taizo Yokoyama is known for his 4-koma (four-panel) political manga Shakai Gi-hyou (Social Satire).

Source: Yomiuri Online

From Reuters comes an article titled "Foreign manga artists face tough challenge in Japan", which looks at the obstacles foreign students face while attending schools for manga in Japan.

Via: Journalista

Mayu Shinjo is a popular shojo mangaka whose work regularly appear on Sho-comi. Some of her popular works include Love Celeb, Kaikan Phrase, and Haou Airen.

On May 23rd, manga artist Mayu Shinjo announced on her blog her plan to leave Shogakukan after her current serialization ends. Below is a summary-excerpt of Mayu Shinjo's blog post:

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From MangaManiacCafe comes a summary (Cross-posted to MangaCast) of the translating manga panel chaired by Toshifumi Yoshida and Trish Ledoux at this year's Anime Central. The panel provides an in-depth look at what it's like to be a translator in today's manga industry.

According to a recent post on its blog, Newtype USA is currently looking for a freelance yaoi fangirl to write columns about yaoi/shonen-ai/boy-love:

You've gotta be over 18, know your stuff, and be able to write about it in an entertaining, coherent (and G-rated, if possible) way. Just testing the waters here, but if you think you might be the gal for the gig, drop a line to letters@newtype-usa.com. Don't forget to send us a writing sample or point us toward your work on the web. We gotta see if you're worthy, after all.

Newtype USA is currently looking for a full-time Japanese-to-English translator:

Primary duties consist of performing English translations of Japanese text and proofing completed translations, though other writing, editing and administrative tasks may be required.

Source: ANN

Go! Comi is currently looking for a new background artist, pin-up artists, digital colorists, and new logo artists. Also according to the announcement: "if you're an artist living in Japan or will be moving there soon, send me a note. We may be looking for an artist who did not grow up in Japan but who lives there for reasons I -- as usual -- can't discuss. ;-)"