Shogakukan’s Manga One App is facing scrutiny after an author with a prior sex crime conviction was allowed to publish works under a pseudonym, according to a recent court ruling. In response, several prominent manga creators have pulled their works from the platform, including Rumiko Takahashi, one of the best-selling manga authors of all time, known for Inuyasha, Ranma ½ and Urusei Yatsura. While she has not publicly commented on the controversy, her decision to remove her titles from Manga One is being widely interpreted as a powerful protest against the publisher’s handling of the convicted author.

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Why Top Artists Are Fleeing Shogakukan’s Manga One App

Other artists have spoken out more directly. One, the author of One Punch Man, said in a post on X that he could not work with people who failed to clearly condemn sexual harm against minors and called on Shogakukan to clarify its position. Ryuhei Tamura wrote on the same platform that he had instructed his editor to halt the serialization of Cosmos on Manga One. Sumito Oowara, meanwhile, said that she has suspended her series Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and urged the publisher to investigate and disclose the full background of the case.

In an official statement, Shogakukan acknowledged that “sexual harm, sexual exploitation, and all forms of human rights violations are absolutely unforgivable.” The publisher admitted there were “decision‑making flaws” in the company’s appointment of the author and its verification system, describing the matter as “a serious incident of supervisory responsibility” that reflected a “lack of awareness regarding human rights and compliance.” Shogakukan pledged to establish an investigative committee with external counsel “to clarify the facts and causes” and extended apologies to the victim, contributing artists, readers and related parties for the distress caused.

Kazuaki Kurita continued to work with app Manga One (logo right), penning the Joujin Kamen manga (cover left)

The Scandal That Has Shaken an Industry 

The controversy centers around author Ichiro Hajime, whose real name is Kazuaki Kurita. On February 20, 2026, he was ordered to pay ¥11 million in compensation after being found guilty of grooming and sexually abusing a female student, identified only as “A.” This reportedly began in 2016 when she was just 15 years old. A high school drawing instructor at the time, Kurita was serializing the manga Daten Sakusen under the pen name Shoichi Yamamoto on Shogakukan’s Manga One service. The victim suffered years of abuse, leading to dissociative disorder and PTSD. Sapporo District Court rejected his claim that the relationship was consensual.

In 2020, Kurita was fined ¥300,000 for creating and possessing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Shogakukan subsequently suspended Daten Sakusen, publicly citing the author’s health as the reason. In October 2022, Shogakukan officially announced the end of the series. The publisher stated that ties with Kurita had been severed. However, it has since been learned that he continued to work with Manga One under the pseudonym Ichiro Hajime, penning the original story Joujin Kamen alongside illustrator Eri Tsuruyoshi. On February 27, Manga One confirmed that Ichiro Hajime and Shoichi Yamamoto are the same person. 

It has also been disclosed that an editor at Manga One, believed to be Takuya Narita, mediated between Kurita and his victim in May 2021. Narita allegedly facilitated a proposed settlement in a group chat with the victim and Kurita. He suggested a payout of ¥1.5 million in exchange for the victim’s silence as well as the withdrawal of her appeal against the resumption of his manga. She refused the offer. The official statement by Manga One confirmed that an editor joined a messaging group at the request of both parties.

act age vol 1 cover

Another Convicted Author on Manga One

On Monday, Shogakukan and the Manga One Editorial Department revealed that Tatsuya Matsuki, the author of the manga Act-Age who was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years in 2020 for indecently assaulting a junior high school girl, has been writing for the series Seisou no Shinrishi under the pen name of Miki Yatsunami. According to Shogakukan, the editorial department was aware of his crime before deciding to appoint him as the original author of the manga. It is temporarily suspending updates for the series, while cooperating with a third-party investigation. 

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Updated On March 3, 2026