Manga publisher Shogakukan faces scandal over editor’s role in author’s sexual abuse case

TOKYO, March 1 — Shogakukan, one of Japan's leading manga publishers, is facing severe scrutiny after an editor at its Manga ONE service was implicated in an alleged attempt to silence a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by a contracted author. 

The scandal has prompted an internal investigation and led several manga creators to suspend their work on the platform.

The controversy centres on author Ichiro Hajime, whose real name is Kazuaki Kurita. 

According to details from a civil lawsuit finalised in February 2026, Kurita groomed and sexually abused a female student, identified only as "A," over several years, beginning when she was 15 years old in 2016. 

At the time, Kurita was a high school drawing instructor and was serialising the manga Daten Sakusen under the pen name Shoichi Yamamoto on Shogakukan's Manga ONE service.

Court documents and a detailed chronology by manga creator Sumi Eno reveal a pattern of grooming that escalated from offering the student rides home to sexual assault and degrading acts. 

The victim developed dissociative disorder and PTSD as a result. On February 20, 2026, the court ordered Kurita to pay ¥11 million (RM274,223) in compensation, rejecting his claims that the relationship was consensual.

This was not Kurita's first legal encounter. In February 2020, he was fined ¥300,000 for creating and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 

Daten Sakusen was subsequently discontinued by Shogakukan in 2022, citing "personal troubles" involving the author.

However, the current crisis erupted following revelations about the publisher's conduct. It was disclosed that an editor at Manga ONE, believed to be Takuya Narita, mediated between Kurita and his victim in May 2021. 

According to Japanese media reports, the editor joined a LINE group chat with the two parties and proposed creating a notarised settlement. 

The proposed document would have paid the victim ¥1.5 million in exchange for her agreement not to speak publicly about the assault and to withdraw her appeal against the resumption of Kurita's manga. The victim rejected the offer and proceeded with her civil lawsuit.

The allegations have sparked outrage, as evidence suggests editor Narita continued to work with and publicly support Kurita for years after his 2020 conviction. 

Kurita had been serialszing a new work, Jojin Kamen, under a different pen name (Ichiro Hajime) on Manga ONE since 2022. 

Social media posts indicate Narita met with Kurita for dinner and promoted his work as recently as November 2025, raising questions about how much the editorial department knew about the author's history and ongoing trial.

In response to the growing backlash, Shogakukan's Manga ONE editorial department released a statement on February 26. 

The company acknowledged that an editor had mediated between the two parties at their request but claimed the editorial department was not involved as an organisation. It apologised for a lack of awareness regarding the case's seriousness and for continuing to work with the author.

In a subsequent, more formal statement, Shogakukan announced the launch of an independent investigative committee, including legal counsel, to ascertain the full facts surrounding the editor's involvement, the settlement conditions, and the launch of Kurita's subsequent series. The company stated it would implement disciplinary action and measures to prevent recurrence.

The fallout has been immediate. The distribution of Jojin Kamen has been halted. Several manga creators, including Sumi Eno and Ikka Matsuki, have requested that their works be removed from or not be serialised on Manga ONE in protest.

 Tsuruyoshi Eri, the artist for Jojin Kamen, released a statement expressing they were unaware of the author's actions and apologised to the victims, emphasizing that "actions that harm people in the real world should not occur."

Shogakukan has stated that updates will be provided as the investigation progresses. The incident has sent shockwaves through the manga industry, raising serious questions about editorial responsibility and the protection of victims over corporate and creative interests.