Shogakukan’s handling of two controversial creator-hiring decisions on its digital manga platform Manga ONE has resulted in a major internal review, with an independent third-party committee identifying weaknesses in editorial oversight and corporate governance. The investigation followed revelations that creators with previous criminal convictions involving sexual offenses had been allowed to work on Manga ONE under different pen names.
The controversy became public in February 2026 after Shogakukan acknowledged that the creator of Daten Sakusen, previously convicted under another name, had later been hired as the original writer of Jōjin Kamen. The company subsequently revealed a second case involving Tatsuya Matsuki, the former Act-Age writer, who had contributed to Seiso no Shinrishi under the pen name Miki Yatsunami.
Independent Investigation Finds Manga ONE Editorial Oversight Problems
Shogakukan established a third-party committee in March to investigate the two cases, including how contributors were selected, how editors handled the earlier settlement discussions, and whether the company had adequate human-rights safeguards.
The committee completed a 106-page investigative report after approximately four and a half months of investigation. Shogakukan officially received the report on August 3, 2026, and subsequently announced its response and planned reforms.
One of the investigation’s most significant findings concerned the concentration of editorial authority. According to the report, decisions involving creators, story content, and whether manga series should launch or continue were traditionally understood to fall primarily within the authority of individual publication editors-in-chief.
The committee concluded that this structure could prevent sufficient outside scrutiny when sensitive decisions were made. In effect, editorial authority could become concentrated in a small number of people, while other departments were reluctant to challenge decisions because of the traditional respect given to editorial independence.
The findings are particularly significant because Manga ONE operates within a rapidly changing digital manga market, where publishers increasingly depend on online platforms rather than traditional print magazines to reach readers.
Shogakukan Introduces New Human-Rights Controls
Shogakukan acknowledged the seriousness of the findings and announced several measures designed to prevent similar incidents. The company said its reforms would strengthen human-rights awareness, organizational culture and management systems across the company.
The publisher announced the creation of a Human Rights Committee that includes outside experts, mandatory human-rights and compliance training for executives and employees, and more formal decision-making procedures for cases involving potential human-rights concerns.
The company also introduced rules requiring employees to report suspected human-rights violations involving outside creators or business partners to supervisors and administrative departments. Shogakukan said these reporting expectations had previously relied too heavily on informal communication.
The response followed Shogakukan’s earlier admission that the Jōjin Kamen hiring decision should not have happened. The company stopped digital distribution and physical book shipments for the series and apologized to those affected.
The investigation therefore goes beyond the individual creators involved. It raises broader questions about how traditional manga editorial structures should adapt as publishing moves increasingly toward digital platforms.
For Shogakukan, the Manga ONE scandal has become a test of whether editorial independence can coexist with stronger institutional accountability. The publisher has now committed to restructuring its oversight systems, but the long-term impact of those changes will depend on how consistently the new procedures are implemented across its manga operations.
