TOKYO — Japanese manga publisher Shogakukan announced a ban on hiring creators who commit sex crimes or major human rights violations.
The decision comes after an independent investigation exposed how the publisher allowed an author convicted of child pornography offences to keep working on its Manga ONE digital platform.
Under the new rules, Shogakukan will cut ties with any partner or author who commits severe human rights abuses, including sexual assault. The company will also add mandatory human rights clauses to all future contracts. Editorial teams will no longer make hiring decisions alone. Legal and administrative departments must now review and approve all creator contracts.
”if their continued involvement is deemed ethically unacceptable.”
Staff must immediately report any human rights concerns about creators to senior management.
Shogakukan President Nobuhiro Oga is forfeiting 50% of his monthly salary for three months to take responsibility. Other top executives will give up between 20% and 30% of their pay over the same period. Employees linked to the scandal face formal workplace discipline.
The corporate overhaul follows intense public backlash over the manga series Jojin Kamen, which ran on Manga ONE starting in 2022.
The author received a summary order for violating Japan’s Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Act by manufacturing explicit material. Shogakukan editors knew about the criminal conviction but allowed the author to continue publishing anyway.
An independent third-party committee released a report criticizing Shogakukan’s handling of the situation. Following the report, Shogakukan issued a renewed apology to the victim and promised to place human rights at the core of its operations.
The publisher stated that it views the controversy not as an isolated issue within a single department, but as an organizational challenge, and committed to pushing forward with radical reforms targeting its management structures, corporate culture, and human rights education to ensure similar incidents never happen again.
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