This was not the post I expected to write today. It’s pretty brutal that this is going out on International Women’s Day.
CW for CSA, Suicide, Online Harassment
It has come to my attention that a Yuri science fiction author in Japan has embroiled the Yuri community in a scandal. To begin with, I received an email today with an “investigative report” about an author going by the name of Namboku. The report stated that this author, though married, allegedly deceived a fan in order to have an affair and, when she found out, threatened her. The fan has subsequently committed suicide and the author has been deleting posts on their socials. The Yuri community in Japan is outraged in part because of the lack of reaction by the author’s publishers. On X, people are speaking out plainly about this situation.
None of Namboku’s work is licensed in English, but that is not a good reason for us to ignore this.
In the week after the Manga One scandal at Shogakukan, (and the whole Epstein files cesspit on the political stage) fans are taking a stand against systems that protect predators.
You know that we say Yuri is by anyone and Yuri is for everyone here, but equally, it needs to be said that the global Yuri community stands up for women. Whether it is book publishing, manga, companies, or governments, any and every system that protects predators deserves to be destroyed.
What can we do as readers? Well, we can write publishers. I wrote one of several emails already to a Japanese publisher this morning. Others will be going out. I want them to understand that the global Yuri community is watching and we see how they side with predators through silence and inaction.
The inevitable criticism will be that if I feel so strongly about this, why am I not doing the same about my own government. I assure you, I am. I contact my government representatives regularly to let them know what must be done. I contact and criticize companies that enshrine bias and give my money to companies that normalize equality and opportunity for people to thrive. In so far as I am able, I spend every day mobilizing to save what we can of our future.
We might not have buying power in Japanese science fiction on our own, but our voices can and should be in union against men who abuse women. The Yuri community is for all women, everywhere, whether they are Japanese, Iranian, Palestinian, American, cis or trans.
We ask that publishers reject people (whether creators or staff) who do not show women respect. We’re done with horrible men being promoted and protected. Namboku’s actions are personal, but his publishers’ actions or lack thereof, are a public statement.
Yuri can be by anyone and can be enjoyed by everyone, but we Yurijin demand that Yuri artists and publishers respect women.
