Kadokawa Corporation is one of the largest media conglomerates in Japan. Some of the companies they own include video-sharing site Niconico, the Japanese branch of French movie studio EuropaCorp and even FromSoftware of Dark Souls fame. They're also heavily involved in publishing, particularly light novels, anime, video games, and of course manga; with companies such as Fujimi Shobi, Enterbrain and ASCII Media Works.
Last week, president and CEO Takeshi Natsuno appeared on a news program to discuss lewd but not nude gravure photos in shonen magazines, which are aimed at pre-teen to teenage boys. He said:
“It is true that there are people who have miraculously beautiful body shapes, and there are people who think that there is value in that, and that money is going around."
He added: “I don’t think it’s fair to say that this is unfair. And I don’t think there’s any debate about whether gravure is good or bad.”
Comparing gravure to manga, he said: “Japan is awash with manga that are more extreme than gravure. Including that, Japanese manga often don’t pass Google and Apple’s screening process.”
"I do somewhat have the feeling that we have to re-establish the standards of what is okay to release and what isn't for the internet era. In the publishing industry that I'm in, everyone is in the pro-freedom of speech camp, but I do get this strong feeling that we have to redraw the line somehow."
Since then there's been a backlash against Kadokawa as Natsuno's comments were percieved as being pro-censorship, and considering the influence one of the biggest publishers has on the manga industry it certainly isn't a good sign if the president is in favor of censorship.
Natsuno later tweeted an apology, stating he appeared on the program to share his personal beliefs which don't reflect the views of the company or the direction it will be taking. In true Japanese fashion, he's also taking a 20% pay cut from August to October.
Shigetake Kurita, managing director of Kadokawa subsidiary Dwango, stressed that Niconico will not be adopting any restrictions or censorship in the foreseeable future.
This isn't the only time Natsuno's words landed him in hot water recently. He's also a consultant for the 2020 Olympic organizing committee, with Kadokawa as an official supporter of the games. On a different news program last week, while discussing the Olympics being held without spectators just like many other events in Japan due to COVID-19, he mocked people who thought it'd be unfair if the Olympics were allowed to have an audience while their kids' piano recitals coudn't. He said:
“I don’t give a damn about a crappy piano recital. Compare it to the Olympics."
“It’s a stupid public sentiment, lumping the two together. But [the government] has to go along with it because it's an election year."
For this he also apologized due to his coarse language, Kadokawa issued a statement saying it was his personal views and not the company's etc, and he took another pay cut. At this rate the guy's gonna go bankrupt just because he can't keep his mouth shut.
What do you guys think? Does Natsuno have a point, even if he didn't get it out right? Drop your thoughts below!
