Veteran manga artist exposes exploitative industry practices that are “strangling” Japanese mangaka 

Veteran Japanese manga artist Mayu Shinjo recently published an article describing “the biggest problem of Japan’s manga industry,” calling to attention the growing exploitation of mangaka by large corporations coupled with consistently low royalties. The post was prompted by the recent suicide of mangaka Ashihara Hinako. Ashihara is believed to have had her rights as an original creator disregarded by parties involved in a live-action adaptation of her work, and the controversy around the incident is still ongoing. 

Post translation: I wrote this a while ago but was unable to post it…It’s about what I consider to be the biggest problem of the manga industry. I think we need to raise awareness of the current situation and  make change happen on an individual level…With what happened recently, I’ve grown sick of the unchanging system imposed by large corporations. Please read this. The age of manga artists being exploited by publishers has begun. 

Mayu Shinjo is a shōjo/erotic manga artist that has been active since 1994. She used to write for Shogakukan (one of Japan’s major publishing houses) but she ultimately left the company to go freelance due to increasingly unfavorable working conditions. In her recent viral post, published February 14, she gives a detailed explanation of the reality facing manga artists , who, as she describes, “are being strangled by bad (business) traditions.” 

One of the major points Shinjo brings up is royalties – for print manga, artists have been receiving a standard 10% throughout the years. This low rate was excused by the need to involve various parties such as editors, typesetters, printing companies, retail mediators, retailers, and warehouse management companies in order deliver manga to readers.  

However, as Shinjo notes, even with the advent of digital manga publications, royalties to the manga artist have remained extremely low – most often at 15%, in rare cases at 20%. This is despite most of the in-between companies being out of the picture and the publisher having far less responsibility in the process than with print manga. 

Mayu Shinjo’s currently ongoing manga Nijiiro no Ryuu wa Megami wo Daku

Shinjo also mentions some personal experiences that indicate publishers’ attitudes toward mangaka. After leaving Shogakukan and refusing demands to give up the rights to her works, Shinjo attempted to negotiate with her e-book distributor directly to have her manga published and offered at a higher price. However, when Shogakukan learned of this, they attempted to threaten the distributor, pressuring them not to accept the deal. At the time, e-book distributors were dependent on publishing companies, putting them in a disadvantageous position. 

This has changed in the meantime, with publishers increasingly depending on e-book distributors to agree to host their titles, but publishers continue to take the biggest percentage of the royalties. Shinjo mentions that more and more authors are raising complaints about the low rates they receive, but that publishers do not listen, maintaining an “everyone gets that much” attitude. 

Moreover, it is common for professional manga artists to rent studios and hire assistants for their work, but according to Shinjo, this is paid by the artists themselves in most cases, meaning that their already low income is slashed even further by the expenses. 

Shinjo finishes her article by appealing to manga artists to question publishers about royalties, to ask for break-downs of percentages, and negotiate to have publishers cover assistant fees.  She pleads for creators to help protect the mangaka profession and not let themselves be exploited. 

Amber V
Amber V

Novice Editor-in-Chief since October 2023.

She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.

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  1. I am very saddened to hear that. There seems to be a concentration of power and wealth to corporations who are out of touch and just look at money and charts but do not understand the personal impacts everyone suffers from let alone the contributions they make for the country and the company. They are also afraid to compete and do what every big corporation does when they can not adapt to change and are afraid of losing hegemony. Coerce and exploit. By the end of the day I do think there needs to be some smaller publishing companies that exist and protection laws need to be passed to prevent and penalize big publishers from trying to coerce smaller publisher’s into compliance as a whole. Because forcing compliance in this sense is lowering the bar and lowering the standard artificially. When we need to have that bar raised higher.

    Manga, and Anime have have the hardest working talents in the industry despite the worst conditions. I certainly hope they get fair compensation for their work, the conditions become better and begin to move past this as a bad period in time.