Shogakukan has announced company-wide reforms following a third-party investigation into its Manga ONE editorial operations and its handling of manga creator Shōichi Yamamoto. The independent committee found that decisions surrounding continued work with a creator who had previously committed serious misconduct raised the possibility that Shogakukan’s actions could be regarded as encouraging or contributing to further human-rights harm. The publisher said the case exposed broader failures in editorial decision-making, information sharing, management oversight, and corporate governance.

Shogakukan's response includes financial penalties for senior leadership, with President Nobuhiro Oga returning 50 percent of his monthly compensation for three months and other executives returning between 20 and 30 percent. The company is also establishing a Human Rights Commission with outside experts, expanding employee and creator training, and requiring greater involvement from legal and management departments when serious concerns arise.

The changes will directly affect Shogakukan’s relationships with manga creators and other outside partners. Contracts will include human-rights provisions, major concerns will no longer be left solely to individual editorial departments, and expanded anonymous reporting and grievance systems are intended to give creators, business partners, and other affected parties clearer ways to raise concerns and seek remedies. Shogakukan says implementation and effectiveness of the reforms will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.