cartoonist and politician Ken Akamatsu On Wednesday, November 13, at the second emergency cabinet meeting of the newly elected Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Parliament for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Deputy Minister of the Reconstruction Parliament.
Parliamentary Under-Ministers assist the Minister and Deputy Ministers in their respective departments but cannot act for the Minister in the Minister’s absence (unlike Deputy Ministers).
Akamatsu, a lawmaker from Japan’s main conservative Liberal Democratic Party, has become the first manga creator to win a seat in Japan’s House of Representatives (parliament).
Akamatsu has a history of focusing on issues affecting Japanese creators, including the controversial liberal invoice tax system.
Akamatsu immersed himself in politics in 2011, when he warned that proposed changes to Japan’s copyright law would “destroy” derivatives Doujin (self-published) works. Akamatsu’s comments were prompted by an article written by Kensaku Fukui, a lawyer and Nihon University professor, about the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Akamatsu continued to express his concerns about the TPP negotiations in the following years.
In 2013, Akamatsu joined other creators in opposing an amendment to the child pornography law proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party and its partners. According to opponents of the bill, the original draft did not distinguish between pornography of actual children and images of children. Akamatsu visited Congress and the LDP headquarters to express his concerns, and the bill was eventually passed in 2014 without banning sexually explicit animation and manga.
In 2019, Akamatsu and other members of the Japan Cartoonists Association formally expressed their concerns about a government subcommittee’s plan to expand the scope of copyright law. Download anime images, illustrations and photos illegally posted to personal blogs and websites twitter Accounts are also illegal, as is copying and pasting lyrics. The proposed changes are not limited to direct downloading of images themselves – taking screenshots of illegally uploaded media is also a breach of the proposed law.
In 2022, Akamatsu described criticism from global gender equality organization UN Women as “external pressure” to police “free speech, especially manga, anime and games” in Japan, adding that such pressure was not new. He elaborated that the regulations need to be treated rationally and not just adhered to because of demands from outside groups. Akamatsu’s definition of “external pressure” does not necessarily mean “outside Japan.” He cited the example of deleting a public service announcement by virtual YouTuber Tojou Linka.
© Ken Akamatsu, Kodansha, Tokyopop
Akamatsu launched J-Comi’s “Zeppan Manga Toshokan” (later Manga Library Z) digital manga library service in 2008, and launched the site’s beta test in 2010. Aishina Provide free comics with six pages of ads and unlimited bit rights management (DRM) for one month to test the feasibility of this business model. Japan Publishing House Shueisha and Kodansha Started working with the site in 2010.
This website was launched in 2011 Seiji Matsuyamaof Oda is a primary school student “My Wife is a Primary School Student” Comic Naoki InaseThe then-Deputy Governor of Tokyo’s Tokyo Metropolitan Youth Healthy Development Ordinance gave examples of which comics should be subject to Tokyo’s recently revised Youth Healthy Development Ordinance. Although the site is only available in Japanese, it launched beta testing of English and foreign-language versions of some games in 2011.
Akamatsu launched University of Queensland holder! Black magician! 2 The comic title is University of Queensland holder! exist Kodanshaof weekly shounen magazine Released in Japan in August 2013. Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine October 2016, with new title University of Queensland holder! Black magician! 2fully revealing the manga as a sequel to Akamatsu’s earlier work sorry! comics. He ended the comic in February 2022 while running for Senate.
tokyo pop publish Aishina in North America, and Delray and Kodansha Comics Published By the way.Manga and Akamatsu’s Itudatte my Santa Claus The manga has inspired various animation projects, as well as By the way It also inspired a live-action TV series.
Source: Japanese Prime Minister’s Office website, Ken AkamatsuX/twitter account
