The editorial department of manga publisher Shogakukan’s Manga ONE service released a statement on February 26 following confirmation that Jojin Kamen author Ichiro Hajime (real name: Kazuaki Kurita) groomed and sexually abused an individual across the span of multiple years, beginning when she was a 15-year-old minor. At the time, Kurita was serializing Daten Sakusen under the name Shoichi Yamamoto.
Furthermore, it was revealed that an editor at Manga ONE mediated between the individual who was assaulted and Kurita in a LINE group chat while Daten Sakusen was still ongoing. This editor is believed to be Takuya Narita, who allegedly proposed getting a settlement agreement notarized that would compensate the individual with 1.5 million yen (~$9.6k) if they did not go public about the assault and withdrew their appeal against Kurita’s resuming.
The editor is believed to be Narita due to a purported post from the individual who was assaulted, as reported by Japanese outlet ITmedia, and Narita’s confirmed role as editor of both Daten Sakusen and Jojin Kamen, per official X posts. (However, manga can have multiple editors.) Kyodo (via Mainichi) and Sankei report on the Manga ONE editor’s suggestion to get a document with the above terms notarized, but do not name Narita. The distribution and serialization of Jojin Kamen has now been halted.
Note: This report contains harrowing details of sexual abuse and dehumanization. Reader discretion is advised.
Manga creator Sumi Eno has provided a detailed chronology of Kurita’s crimes and legal proceedings against him through multiple sources. Eno’s manga is currently being serialized on Manga ONE and has requested that it be suspended on the platform (available elsewhere), given concerns about the editorial department’s conduct. We’ve linked to it here (Japanese); a summary is below.
Kurita was a drawing instructor at a private high school in Hokkaido, where the then-15-year-old minor, “A,” had enrolled in April 2016. According to details from A’s civil lawsuit, initiated in July 2022 and finalized this month, Kurita would offer advice about manga and behind-the-scenes stories, eventually exchanging contact information with A on LINE. The lawsuit alleges that Kurita offered to take A home before driving in another direction to a deserted area and engaging in acts such as groping her.
She messaged him later, “I was scared, but thank you for giving me a ride. [translated]” A replied, “I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m shocked. [translated]” The lawyer representing A explained how this was emotional manipulation; “By reacting negatively to the student [A/defendant] who told her he was scared, Mr. A [Kurita] gradually created a psychological state in which they could not defy the defendant. [translated]”
From then on, Kurita repeatedly met up with A outside of class, taking her to a hotel where they had intercourse. A says she told him it would be wrong due to her age and the teacher-student dynamic. The grooming and abuse escalated to further dehumanizing acts over the span of three years, including making her eat excrement and photographing her with words like “slave” and “pet” on her body. Details are here (via Ben54). A graduated in March 2019, and Kurita continued to request nude images until July. She developed a dissociative disorder and PTSD.
Kurita argued this was consensual and within the context of a serious relationship, citing that he took her on dates to various places, not just hotels for sex, and he rejected the veracity of claims that A had PTSD. The court rejected Kurita’s arguments and, on February 20, 2026, ordered Kurita to pay 11 million yen ($70.5k) in compensation. While A’s other claims against the Hokkaido high school were dismissed, their legal team is considering an appeal; A alleges that the school was aware that Kurita had assaulted another student, but the school took no action. LINE messages suggest that inappropriate contact between teachers and students was taking place.
While this lawsuit began in 2022, this was not the first legal effort against Kurita. In February 2020, Kurita had been fined 300,000 yen (~$1.9k) for possessing CSAM. That same month, Daten Sakusen, which Kurita had been serializing since 2016 under the name Shoichi Yamamoto, went on a break. The official X (formerly Twitter) account at the time had cited his “poor physical condition” as the reason. Later that month, the account announced the series would return in March, which never materialized.
It was officially discontinued on Manga ONE and fellow Shogakukan web distribution site Ura Sunday in September 2022 due to “ongoing personal troubles” involving Yamamoto, “unrelated to health issues or my relationship with the editorial department.” Yamamoto announced the next month that the series would be revived as a self-published e-book.
As recently as this month, the Daten Sakusen account posted an image of Tokyo, commenting how it was an extraordinary sight for people from Hokkaido. The account also said that fans of Daten Sakusen should please remain patient. In November 2025, editor Narita posted about a lunch shared with Kurita/Yamamoto. The Daten Sakusen account jovially replied that Narita was wearing a Hellraiser t-shirt.
Shogakukan Manga Editor Proposes ‘A’ Sign a Notarized Document Preventing Her From Discussing Assault
In May 2021, an editor of Jojin Kamen, believed to be Narita, mediated between Kurita and A, as now corroborated in part by Manga ONE’s statement. Manga ONE says that both parties requested the editor’s mediation, and the editorial department had no intention of being involved as an organization. The editorial department added that it had not been fully aware of the seriousness of the case and thus had not been in a position to respond appropriately at the time. It also apologized and took “full responsibility” for working with Kurita again and would work to prevent this from happening again.
Kyodo News (via 47NEWS) reports that this editor joined a LINE group chat with A and Kurita and proposed creating a notarized document, which stipulated that 1.5 million yen would be paid in compensation if A did not speak about the sexual assault. A rejected this and filed the civil lawsuit referenced previously. Meanwhile, Manga ONE’s statement is more vague, only stating that the editor advised a lawyer draw up a notarized document between the two parties. The statement does not mention the terms of the document.
Naturally, the ramifications of this are shocking. Many have made appeals on social media for Shogakukan and Manga ONE to reveal the full extent of what was known and when. The editor’s suggestion of a notarized document, forbidding disclosure of details, suggests he was aware of conduct by Kurita that would be damaging if publicized. Even just basing events on official statements:
- Kurita was fined in 2020 for possession of CSAM.
- Manga ONE’s statement suggests this was the very reason it stopped serializing Kurita’s Daten Sakusen (under the name Shoichi Yamamoto).
- Kurita’s follow-up series, Jojin Kamen, has been serialized since 2022 (under the name Ichiro Hajime).
- Editor Narita continued to edit Kurita’s Daten Sakusen (now self-published as an e-book), and “selfishly” pushed for the series to continue (October 2022), later promoting it in February 2023.
- Editor Narita met in person with Kurita (as Shoichi Yamamoto) for dinner, as documented in December 2024 and November 2025, where he again promoted the series.
This would indicate that editor Narita has continued to work with and platform Kurita for years following his possession of CSAM. In the worst case, Narita was aware of Kurita’s broader crimes and, having known Kurita in person as Shoichi Yamamoto, knew this was the same person as Ichiro Hajime. This would mean that Narita knew that someone on trial for the sexual abuse of a minor was still working with the company under a different name, harming by association several others who unknowingly collaborated with and supported him.
Eno’s blog post also criticizes former Manga ONE editor-in-chief Yuki Wada, asserting that he would have had Kurita’s real name and address and should have been able to link the different pen names. Questions were raised about what he knew. Wada is still active within the manga industry.
Eno says the current Manga ONE editor-in-chief, Hironori Hoshino, who was appointed very recently, was not at Manga ONE during this incident; Manga ONE released a video of its “first-ever close coverage” of Hoshino on February 21, 2025. This video is now private, along with all other Manga ONE videos on YouTube. This was decided by the representative director of Sync Creative Management, which manages the Manga One YouTube channel, out of consideration for everyone affected.
Among those also harmed by Kurita’s actions is Jojin Kamen artist, Tsuruyoshi Eri. Resonating with many, Eri released a statement today that they were unaware of the author’s actions, apologized to the victims, and said there’s freedom in manga precisely because fiction is separate from reality. “This is why I strongly believe that actions that harm people in the real world should not occur.” Manga artist Ikka Matsuki, whose Nippon Sangoku manga series is serialized on Manga ONE and has just received an anime adaptation announcement for this April, felt that Manga ONE’s statement failed to convey the perspectives of editors who were uninvolved in a post to X.
Updates will be published as new developments occur. Several manga creators have requested that their works not be serialized on Manga ONE in the meantime.
Source: Sumi Eno’s blog, Ben54, Kyodo News (via 47NEWS)
Featured image: Cropped version of photograph by © J o, CC BY-SA 4.0
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