Shogakukan’s Manga ONE editorial department has publicly acknowledged its misjudgment in allowing manga creator Shōichi Yamamoto, who has a history of sex crime convictions, to publish under a pseudonym. Following Yamamoto’s arrest and conviction in 2020, the publisher canceled his previous series, Daten Sakusen. However, in 2022, they inadvertently approved the serialization of Jōjin Kamen, a work listed under the name “Hajime Ichiro.” The editorial team has since ceased the digital distribution of Jōjin Kamen and halted shipments of its physical volumes, reaffirming that they should have conducted a thorough investigation into the identity of the writer before publishing the work.
The controversy deepened with revelations about a civil lawsuit involving Yamamoto, where he was sentenced to pay substantial damages to a victim of his sexual abuse. Reports state that he was ordered by the Sapporo District Court to compensate a woman in her twenties for damages related to repeated acts of sexual violence that occurred years prior, including instances of severe psychological and physical abuse. The victim was reportedly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder following the abuse.
In response to the growing backlash, Manga ONE’s editorial department released a statement apologizing to the victim, the artist Eri Tsuruyoshi, and other contributors. They conveyed a commitment to preventing recurrence of such oversights in the future. Shogakukan also announced the formation of an investigative committee to ascertain the processes that led to Yamamoto’s hiring and the involvement of a manga editor in settlement discussions pertaining to the civil lawsuit.
The situation has sparked significant outrage within the manga community. Many creators are distancing themselves from Manga ONE, with some publicly calling for the removal of their works from the platform. Artists like Eri Tsuruyoshi expressed their shock and distress after learning of Yamamoto’s past, while others such as Ai Minase and Konomi Wagata joined the boycott, emphasizing that art should not support individuals who commit harmful acts.
Yamamoto had been publishing Daten Sakusen since 2015, but the series was put on hiatus in early 2020 under the pretext of health issues, later noted as being related to ongoing personal troubles. Despite his legal challenges, Yamamoto continued to self-publish the series online, raising concerns about the potential glorification of problematic figures in the industry.
The breadth of this incident reveals not only the need for increased scrutiny of content creators within the publishing industry but also the significance of holding organizations accountable for the choices they make regarding who they support. This event serves as a critical reminder of the impact of creative works and the necessity for publishers to responsibly consider the backgrounds and actions of those they choose to endorse.