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For most Japanese companies, having your name in the headline alongside the Japan Fair Trade Commission is kind of a nightmare situation. That’s what is happening to anime and manga distributor Kadokawa. Earlier this week, the company that publishes popular manga like The Summer Hikaru Died confirmed reports that it is being investigated for violating a Japanese law protecting freelancers from late or delayed payment.

Kadokawa is one of the largest publishers of manga and light novels in Japan. As part of this, they produce multiple magazines every month. Like most publishers, they use freelancers to help make that happen. However, Japanese law stipulates that anytime a company uses freelancers, they must specify a deadline for payment in the contract. If they don’t, payment is due on the day that work is delivered.

The reports thus far suggest that Kadokawa had been engaging with freelance writers and artists without specifying payment deadlines. The JFTC is investigating how this impacted more than 100 freelancers who worked for the company. In response, Kadokawa released a statement that confirmed that the investigation was happening and said that it was “responding to it with the utmost sincerity and cooperation,” without admitting to any wrongdoing. The statement did not disclose any further details and said that Kadokawa would make a future announcement if any further disclosure became necessary.

It is impossible to speculate at this time what the eventual outcome of the investigation will uncover. It is unlikely that a company as large as Kadokawa was unaware of the Japanese law protecting freelancers from late payments, so it seems possible that, if the reports are true, they will face some sort of punishment. That probably won’t heavily impact their general publishing schedule, so your favorite manga or anime shouldn’t be affected. 

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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