Shogakukan

In the United States

Shogakukan, along with Shueisha, owns Viz Media, which publishes manga from both companies in the United States.

Shogakukan's licensing arm in North America was ShoPro Entertainment; it was merged into Viz Media in 2005.

Shogakukan's production arm is Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (previously Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.)

In March 2010 it was announced that Shogakukan would partner with the American comics publisher Fantagraphics to issue a line of manga to be edited by Rachel Thorn.

Controversies

Genghis Khan

On February 15, 2018, CoroCoro Comic ("Gekkan Corocoro Comic"), a children's magazine published by Shogakukan, had in its March issue a cartoon making fun of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. The comic showed a mischievous boy doodling juvenile things on pictures of famous people, such as a dog's face on a picture of Albert Einstein. Genghis Khan was depicted with a crude rendering of male genitalia on his forehead. After some backlash, Shogakukan initially offered an apology addressed to the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo on February 23, but that failed to mollify Mongolian expats in Japan, who regard Genghis Khan as a national hero.

On February 26, Mongolians and citizens of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region resident in Japan sent a formal letter of protest to Shogakukan, while some 90 demonstrators protested in front of company headquarters. Major bookselling chains Kinokuniya, Miraiya and Kumazawa pulled the publication off shelves after the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo filed an official complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In March 2018, Shogakukan issued another public apology, announced a national recall of the magazine and offered a refund to magazine patrons. CoroCoro Comic's website also published an apology by Asumi Yoshino, author of the serialized manga Yarisugi!!! Itazura-kun which contained the controversial image.

Shōichi Yamamoto

On February 20, 2026, a Sapporo District Court judge found Shōichi Yamamoto liable for sexually abusing a minor. According to Ashita no Keizai Shimbun, the victim was 15 years old and Yamamoto was her high school teacher when he intimately touched her and kissed her in a car. Ashita no Keizai Shimbun also reported that he raped her a year later; the lawsuit alleged that Yamamoto forced the victim to eat her own excrement and took pictures of her with "slave" written on her body as "punishment". The lawsuit was filed years earlier after a failed mediation attempt by Shogakukan. In 2020, Shogakukan suspended Yamamoto's series Daten Sakusen citing his "poor health", before they announced that the manga was ending publication in 2022. Later that same year, editors at Shogakukan conspired to have Yamamoto write Jojin Kamen under the pen name "Hajime Ichiro". In 2026, when the civil trial publicly disclosed the verdict, MangaONE, the platform where Yamamoto's works were published, released a public statement that they would be suspending Jojin Kamen, wherein they also revealed that the author was Yamamoto. Shogakukan also released a separate statement, which apologized for the affair and promised an investigative committee to look into the incident would be formed.

Eri Tsuruyoshi, the illustrator of Jojin Kamen, posted on social media that they did not know about Yamamoto's legal case and had only met him once, with all communication coming through their editor. They also expressed hope that the victim would recover and apologized to readers. In response to the controversy, several manga artists asked for their works to be removed from MangaONE and for readers to read their works on other platforms. The Japan Cartoonists Association called for an investigation and steps be taken to prevent this situation from happening again. Ryuhei Tamura (Cosmos), Haro Aso (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead), Kaeru Mizuho (Magical Girl Dandelion), and Minoru Takeyoshi (Shokubutsu Byōrigaku wa Asu no Kimi o Negau) asked that their respective series' publication on MangaONE be halted. One-Punch Man creator One stated that he would not work with Shogakukan again if the matter is not resolved. Frieren, Mobile Police Patlabor, Major, Mogura no Uta, Aoi Honō, Moeyo Pen, and works by Rumiko Takahashi were removed from the MangaONE service. The award ceremony for the 71st Shogakukan Manga Award, which was originally scheduled to be held on March 3, was postponed.

On March 2, 2026, Shogakukan discovered that MangaONE published Seisō no Shinri-shi, a manga written by Act-Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki under the pen name "Miki Yatsunami", who had been arrested and indicted on the charge of committing a coerced indecent act on a female middle school student in 2020.