I Want My Manuscript Back

So says Haruki Murakami, after it was discovered that one of his editors had sold several of his manuscripts (written in longhand) to bookstores in Tokyo. The Japan Writer's Association agrees with him, having decided "to come up with a document stating that writers have ownership over their manuscripts."

Oh, and if you have some spare change and a literary bent of mind, do visit Tokyo's Jinbocho antiquarian book district: it's supposed to be full of manuscripts by famous authors. One by Junichiro Tanizaki is for 4.5 million yen, another by Yukio Mishima for 6.5 million yen and one by Shugoro Yamamoto is going for 2.5 million yen.