Japanese Magazine Suspends Publication amid LGBT Controversy

September 26, 2018

Tokyo- Shinchosha Publishing Co. said Tuesday that it will suspend the publication of a monthly magazine at the center of a controversy over articles related to lesbian, gay, bisexuals and transgender, or LGBT, people.

The magazine, Shincho 45, has come under fire over an article in its August edition contributed by House of Representatives lawmaker Mio Sugita of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in which she argued that LGBT couples are unproductive as they do not have children.

Fueling the controversy, the magazine ran a feature in defense of Sugita in its latest October issue.

Following the escalation of public criticism, the Japanese publisher released a statement by its president, Takanobu Sato, last week admitting that the feature story in the October edition included expressions with aberrant prejudice and a lack of understanding in some parts.

On Tuesday, the company issued a separate statement to officially apologize for the situation, while citing a plunge in the sales of the magazine in the last few years as the cause of poor editorial checks.

The company said it has decided to suspend the publication of Shincho 45 from the next November issue, with deep regret for its failure to build a sufficient editorial system.

Yukihito Ito, a board director at Shinchosha Publishing, told reporters on Tuesday that Sato and a director in charge of editorial matters will have their pay cut by 10 pct for three months.

While no officials directly involved in the publication of Shincho 45, including its editor in chief, will not face penalties, Ito said: "We took a very difficult decision to suspend its publication. We want you to understand the significance of the decision."

Prominent Japanese magazine editor Hiroyuki Shinoda pointed to the current serious slump of the publishing industry behind the Shincho 45 scandal.

"In the face of falling sales, the magazine appears to have started to switch its target to online right-wing audience for its survival around half a year ago, and the Sugita article in the August edition was published in line with this shift," he said.

"This isn't a problem unique to Shinchosha but an industry-wide challenge," Shinoda added. Jiji Press