TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIllegal Japanese manga site manager arrested in the Philippines
Romi Hoshino, 28, managed "Manga Mura" (Manga village), which shut down on its own in April last year as Japan launched a manhunt for the website's founder for massive violation of copyright.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Natsu, center, sets off on another adventure with others in a scene from the final installment of 'Fairy Tail.' (Hiro Mashima / KODANSHA via The Japan News/File)
A
man who ran an illegal online manga comic library read by around 100 million people each month has been arrested in Manila, Philippine authorities said Tuesday.
Romi Hoshino, 28, managed "Manga Mura" (Manga village), which shut down on its own in April last year as Japan launched a manhunt for the website's founder for massive violation of copyright.
About 100 million people each month used the popular pirate website, which made around 60,000 manga -- Japanese graphic novels or comics -- available to the public for free immediately after publication.
Manga publishers lost about 320 billion yen ($2.94 billion) in potential revenues over a six-month period to February 2018 alone, Japan's Content Overseas Distribution Association said.
"It's an enormous amount and Manga Mura was a very big issue for manga editors," an official from the anti-piracy group told AFP.
"The Japanese government created a task force just to take measures against Manga Mura," the association official added.
Hoshino, who holds a Japanese passport, was arrested on Sunday at Manila airport after the Japanese embassy in Manila sought help in locating him, immigration commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement, describing him as the Manga Mura manager.
"His presence in the country is a risk to public safety and security," and will likely be deported to Japan, Morente said.
