TOKYO - Shogakukan has come under mounting criticism after it was revealed that its manga app “Manga One” appointed a male manga artist as the original author of a new serialized work despite being aware of his past sexual misconduct, prompting the publisher to apologize and announce on March 2nd that it would establish an independent third-party committee to investigate the matter.
The controversy centers on the manga “Jojin Kamen,” which had been serialized on “Manga One.” The company announced last week that distribution of the series and shipments of its collected volumes would be suspended.
At issue is the background of the work’s original author, a former teacher at a private high school in Hokkaido, who in 2020 received a summary order and was fined 300,000 yen for violating the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Law in connection with a former female student.
Following the incident, Shogakukan ended the serialization in 2022 of another manga illustrated by the same man, titled “Daten Sakusen.” However, just two months later, the publisher appointed him under a different pen name as the original author of “Jojin Kamen.”
The editorial department of “Manga One” issued an apology, stating, “We should not have appointed him as the original author. Above all, we sincerely apologize to the victim.”
The former student who suffered the abuse has since developed post-traumatic stress disorder and filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages from the man. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that he must pay 11 million yen in compensation.
After the ruling, the woman said, “An editor approached me with a settlement proposal and asked me not to disclose that he was the author of ‘Daten Sakusen.’ It is painful and frustrating to see only the perpetrator’s life going well.”
According to the woman, an editor joined a LINE group created for settlement discussions and proposed drafting a notarized agreement that included conditions such as the payment of 1.5 million yen in settlement money by the author and an agreement not to disclose the sexual misconduct.
The issue has triggered a widening backlash, with many manga artists announcing that they would suspend distribution of their own works on “Manga One.”
Manga artist A commented, “The act committed against a minor is obviously an outrageous wrongdoing. I do not understand how the editors could respond in this way.”
Manga artist B said, “This is an absolutely unforgivable incident. I believe that neither I nor readers can enjoy reading manga on Manga One under these circumstances.”
Mamoru Nishiyama, an associate professor at J. F. Oberlin University who specializes in corporate risk management, sharply criticized Shogakukan’s handling of the case. “A more appropriate response would have been to suspend activity for a certain period and consider reappointment only after the issue had been resolved. Instead, the company rehired him within a very short time while the matter remained unresolved. The failure to provide an explanation to readers and the public inevitably gives rise to suspicion,” Nishiyama said.
On March 2nd, Shogakukan announced plans to set up a third-party committee to examine the problems and formulate measures to prevent a recurrence.
Further scrutiny has emerged over another title on “Manga One,” “Seiso no Shinrishi,” whose original author was also found to have been involved in a past sexual misconduct case and appointed under a different name.
According to Shogakukan, the author of that work had previously received a suspended sentence for a sexual offense. The editorial department confirmed that the probation period had expired and, taking into account the individual’s expressed remorse over the incident, decided to appoint the author.
Source: TBS
