Shogakukan Found to Have Promoted Human Rights Violations

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)--A third-party panel of Shogakukan Inc. said Monday that the Japanese publisher has encouraged human rights violations by hiring a male manga artist who had committed sexual misconduct as an author for a new series under a different pseudonym.

The panel said in an investigation report that Shogakukan’s manga app editorial department “encouraged and supported the violation of human rights of the woman victim.”

The department changed the pen name of the male manga artist for the new series “Jojin Kamen” in 2022, according to the report. He had been fined for sexually assaulting a teenage girl who was his student when he was a teacher.

The report also said that the department hired another male manga author for the new series “Seiso no Shinrishi” by changing his pseudonym, although his series in a different magazine was canceled after he was found guilty of sexual assault.

The panel pointed out that the Jojin Kamen author might not have been fully aware of the nature of the crime he committed. It criticized his editor for being involved in out-of-court settlement negotiations and deciding to publish the new series without sufficient investigation or review.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]