To protest the signing of the Revised Youth Ordinance Bill many anime and manga producers who initially agreed to participate in the upcoming Tokyo Animation Fair (organized by the Metropolitan Government), have not only pulled out of the event but also banded together to put up an entirely new event on the very same weekend, as reported on ANN.
Dubbed the Anime Contents Expo, the new event will be held at Makuhari Messe from 26th to 27th March 2011. Makuhari is found outside of Tokyo — in Chiba Prefecture, and is the same city where both Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea are actually located. Makuhari Messe is a popular events hall, holding concerts by L’Arc~en~Ciel and manga conventions like Jump Festa.
Some of the companies that disassociated themselves with TAF include Kadokawa, Aniplex, ANIMATE, Kadokawa Shoten, King Records, Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan, Frontier Works, Marvelous Entertainment, and Media Factory.
Meanwhile — also via ANN: Comic Market is set to stay at Tokyo Big Sight. However, steps are being taken by the steering committee to protect its artists and participants. Dan Kanemitsu has noted that this year’s Comic Market committee is already distributing pamphlets to participating artists and circles on “how the event is run, how circles are expected operate, what are the rules, what are the changes, … etc.”. There is also a section highlighting the new restrictions and how the circles can continue to operate within legal boundaries.
JPOP Manila 
This whole bill is a reflection of how society is and what people can be really like.
It’s sad, but true. We have people turning more into beasts that act on instinct.
I posted my thoughts on the bill and how it reflects the behavior of people. You can read it at: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/2609971604/youth-ordinance-bill
The battle will not end as long as reason will continue to combat instinct.
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I’ve read your points and find most them very sound; I especially agreed with the part about Ishihara being an ornery old goat with a score to settle with the otaku population.
Personally though — political and social issues aside, I’m surprised that Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government are not looking at this from an economic standpoint. With the Japanese economy cooling down — even contracting, over the past twenty years, you’d think that they’d support one of the few remaining industries (both internal and for export) that actually sees growth.
Instead of of liberalizing the industry and maybe get a few tax dollars in by supporting growing animation, manga, and gaming companies, they are shooting themselves in the foot by making wholesale restrictions on soft culture products, without making an effort to classify them correctly. What part of “adult entertainment” (I am assuming that Ishihara conforms to the Japanese definition of “shakaijin”) do they not understand?
What Tokyo needs is good governance and the eradication of deeply-ingrained graft and corruption — and not Ishihara peering over everyones’ shoulders spying on what they do in their spare time.
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