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The Japanese publishing giant Shogakukan, which co-owns VIZ Media, has announced a sweeping series of reforms in response to a public scandal in which a former Shogakukan creator named Shoichi Yamamoto was secretly rehired under a pseudonym to cover up his past as a convicted criminal with child prostitution and child pornography charges. This comes after a third-party committee initiated by the company found that these decisions do not match company values, and there were several failures along the way which led to this, including "the publisher’s editorial decision-making, internal communication, corporate oversight, and crisis management," and also that the editor re-hiring Yamamoto sought to obscure his hiring from management.

"Once again, we sincerely apologize to those who have been affected," reads a statement from Shogakukan CEO/president Nobuhiro Oga. "We also deeply apologize for the great inconvenience and distress caused to our readers, writers and creators, business partners, and all involved."

Shogakukan is one of the 'big three' manga publishers in the world, and through its co-ownership of VIZ Media is one-half of the dominant manga publishers in North America. By itself, Shogakukan is best known for the series Frieren, Ranma 1/2, 20th Century Boys, Inuyasha, Case Closed / Detective Conan, and Doraemon.

Shogakukan folds the aforementioned crimes under the broader terms of "human rights violations" and what Oga calls "concrete initiatives" to respect human rights, and "promote fundamental reforms including human rights education, organizational culture, and management structure."

Shogukakan now has a Human Rights Committee to help others

Earlier this year, as part of this process, Shogakukan established a Human Rights Committee (which includes external experts) to continue to review and revise "policies for the prevention, mitigation, and correction of human rights violations including sexual assault and serious compliance violations." As part of this, the company is establishing a "grievance mechanism" where individuals who have suffered "human rights violations or other damages" may file complaints, "and engage in dialogue, remediation, and remedies" whether or not they have a direct contractual relationship with Shogakukan themselves.

As part of this, Shogakukan is reviewing its internal process for hiring external creators, and decisions surrounding continued business with those creators. They are also establishing guidelines regarding Shogakukan staff's contact with those creators, and "require their compliance" with its policies. As part of this, Shogakukan is expanding its human rights seminars that were previously for internal staff to also include such events for "external creators such as writers, artists, and other freelancers."

"When concerns about human rights violations arise, victim protection, prevention of recurrence, and corporate social responsibility are essential factors in deciding whether to request or continue the contract [with freelance creators]," reads the statement from Shogakukan. "In particular, if there is a serious human rights violation against the victim and it is deemed ethically unacceptable to request or continue the request to external creators or other business partners, we will not proceed with the request. If concerns arise such as human rights violations, the company investigates the facts and makes a comprehensive judgment, first requests improvement, and decides whether to request or suspend continuation."

In the event of a "serious" human rights violation, Shogakukan says it now has measures in place for an "emergency response committee or a special measures committee" to be convened, and will require mandatory consultation with outside experts.

"For sexual assault cases, we establish specialized response workflows to quickly verify facts and, if victims wish, provide psychological counseling and enhanced victim support," Shogakukan's statement reads.

Shogakukan bosses are showing amends by returning a portion of their salaries

As part of this public display of accountability, the executive management team of Shogakukan is "voluntarily" returning a significant portion of their salaries for the past three months to the company. Their remuneration is as follows:

• President/CEO Nobuhiro Aiga is returning 50% of his monthly salary for the past 3 months
• Two senior managing directors, three managing directors, and two directors are returning 30% of their monthly salary for the past 3 months
• Three executive directors, 13 directors, and two auditors are returning 20% of their monthly salary for the past 3 months

"We recognize that this issue is not a temporary issue, but a management issue that requires respect for human rights, governance, and organizational management itself," Shogakukan's statement reads. "Going forward, while prioritizing response and relief for those affected, we will steadily implement and appropriately disclose these recurrence prevention measures. We also take recommendations from third-party committees seriously and undertake fundamental reforms ranging from human rights education to organizational culture and management structure."

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