Major manga publisher Shogakukan has confirmed for the second time in a week that it hired a sexual offender under a pen name: Tatsuya Matsuki, who was the author of the previously serialized Act-Age. Following the discontinuation of Act-Age in Weekly Shonen Jump, after Matsuki groped multiple female school children, Shogakukan’s Manga ONE editorial department knowingly worked with Matsuki under a different pen name: Miki Yatsunami, the author of Seisou no Shinrishi (星霜の心理士).
This follows the announcement last week that Jojin Mask author Ichiro Hajime (also published Daten Sakusen under the name Shoichi Yamamoto), whose previous series was discontinued on Manga ONE after he was fined for the creation and possession of CSAM in 2020, was still with the company under a different name; he had been recently ordered on February 20 to pay 11 million in compensation for the grooming and sexual abuse of an individual beginning when she was 15. This resulted from a lawsuit filed in 2022.
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Shogakukan’s Manga ONE had come under massive criticism for poor hiring practices and disregard for human rights, which had allowed this man to silently return to the company despite a court ruling that he had created and possessed CSAM. It’s currently unclear who at Shogakukan knew that this man was later on trial for sexual abuse and grooming. However, an editor from Shogakukan’s Manga ONE department participated in an attempt to cover the crimes up prior to it going to trial, proposing that a lawyer draft a notarized agreement that stipulated that compensation would be paid to the individual who was assaulted if they did not go public.
Following the initial reaction last week, the Manga ONE editorial department and Shogakukan issued an apology and confirmed that an investigative committee would be formed to understand the facts. It is in this context that Shogakukan has now come forward with this announcement today that another sexual offender in Tatsuya Matsuki had been working with the publisher under the pen name Miki Yatsunami. Manga ONE says it has revealed this with Matsuki’s consent.
The Manga ONE editorial department’s statement outlines the timeline of events:
- Matsuki was arrested and indicted on suspicion of indecent assault in August 2020 and received a 1.5-year prison sentence, suspended for three years.
- Members of the Manga ONE editorial were aware of this fact before appointing him as the author of Seisou no Shinrishi and “confirmed that the sentence had been finalized and that the suspended sentence had expired, and also confirmed his remorse for the incident, his efforts to prevent a recurrence, and the status of support for his reintegration into society provided by experts, and then deliberated the matter internally.“
- On August 29, 2024, an editor at Manga ONE requested a face-to-face meeting via X (formerly Twitter).
- On August 30, 2024, Matsuki replied that he was self-publishing a novel that would later become the basis of Seisou no Shinrishi.
- On September 6, 2024, with the approval of the then editor-in-chief, Yuki Wada, representatives from the Manga ONE editorial department met with Matsuki, where they discussed his “strong feelings of atonement” towards the victims, personal changes, and decision to write a novel; Matsuki said that he was writing a novel under a new pen name as the old one would evoke painful memories within the individuals he assualted.
- This meeting was reported to Manga ONE’s editor-in-chief at the time, Yuki Wada, who greenlit plans to serialize a manga on the platform. Manga ONE allowed him to use his pen name, where “only a small number of people within the editorial department were aware of this fact.“
- The Manga ONE editorial staff in the know say Matsuki had been receiving psychological counseling since committing his acts, and his self-reflection motivated him to write the story that later became Seisou no Shinrishi.
- These Manga ONE editorial staff determined that, in light of the facts, Matsuki’s past should not deny him the chance to return to society.
- Seisou no Shinrishi artist Kaoru Yukikira met with Matsuki and the editor before serialization, and discussed the circumstances and various risks involved with this attempt to reintroduce Matsuki into manga. Yukihira said, “It was the first time in my life that I was moved to tears while reading manga (Matsuki’s original work), and I felt that this was a work that I should draw. The theme, social significance, and entertainment value of this work should be shared with the world,” and agreed to move ahead without disclosing Matsuki’s past.
Manga ONE’s statement says that changing Matsuki’s pen name was always intended to be in the best interests of those affected, but now believes that further consideration should have been given to “whether this method was truly in consideration of the victims, and whether it might have caused further pain to those affected.” Manga ONE has temporarily suspended publication of Seisou no Shinrishi and says it will fully cooperate with the investigation. Several manga creators have pulled their works from Manga ONE (available elsewhere), including Rumiko Takahashi (Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2) and the creators of Frieren. The Shogakukan Manga Award, scheduled for March 3, has also been postponed.
Source: Shogakukan
Cropped version of photograph by © Akonnchiroll, CC BY-SA 4.0
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