Shogakukan Apologizes to Victim Over ‘Manga One’ Controversy: “We Deeply Feel Our Responsibility for Failing to Protect Women’s Human Rights” [Full Statement]

Full Statement from Shogakukan

Apology to the Person Who Suffered Harm and Shogakukan’s Initiatives to Promote Respect for Human Rights

On March 5, 2026, our company was given the opportunity to apologize to the woman who suffered harm caused by Mr. Shoichi Yamamoto, whose work had been published on our platform Manga One.

We sincerely thank her from the bottom of our hearts for accepting our apology.

We will take the opinions we received on that occasion with the utmost sincerity and promise that, as a company, we will undertake various initiatives going forward in order to fulfill our responsibility to respect all human rights.

In February 2020, Mr. Yamamoto, the creator of Daten Sakusen, which had been published on Manga One, was arrested on suspicion of violating Japan’s Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Act (production). Once the company became aware of this fact, we instructed that the serialization be discontinued. However, beginning in 2022, the Manga One editorial department appointed Mr. Yamamoto under a different pen name as the original author of the new serialized work Jojin Kamen.

The woman who suffered sexual harm from Mr. Yamamoto developed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after the incident and continues to endure ongoing suffering. Under such circumstances, the situation should have first and foremost taken into consideration the feelings of the woman who suffered harm. However, this was not done at all.

Appointing Mr. Yamamoto—the perpetrator—again under a different pen name was an act that disregarded the human rights of women, and we deeply feel the weight of our responsibility as a company for the failure of our supervisory and management systems.

On March 5, our company’s directors visited the office of the victim’s legal representative to deliver an apology, and through a phone call arranged by the lawyer, we expressed our deepest apologies to the woman who suffered harm.

At that time, we conveyed the following apologies to the woman:

That despite the fact that she continues to suffer from PTSD, Mr. Yamamoto was appointed under a different pen name as the original author of a new serialization.

That there were problems with the company’s management and oversight system regarding this matter.

That Shogakukan has decided to immediately establish an independent third-party committee, and after ascertaining the facts, identifying the causes, and receiving recommendations to prevent recurrence, the company will implement the necessary measures it must undertake.

We were also informed by the victim’s legal representative that the woman strongly hopes that “no further victims will be created.” In order to respond sincerely to her earnest wish, our company will never tolerate sexual violence, sexual exploitation, or any form of human rights violation. We recognize that respect for human rights is the most important issue for a company operating as a member of society, and we will carefully consider our mission as a company going forward.

At present, we have decided to establish the third-party committee, formulate and publish a human rights policy, and conduct human rights seminars within the company. We will sincerely accept the recommendations of the third-party committee and proceed with concrete measures to prevent human rights violations from ever occurring again.

Once again, we sincerely apologize to the person who suffered harm.
We also deeply apologize to our readers, the creators who contribute to our publications, our business partners, and all related parties.

Shogakukan Official

Source : ORICON NEWS