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Japan's Denny's Restaurants, Other Businesses Pull Hisashi Eguchi Art After Tracing Accusations

The Denny's restaurant chain in Japan, the Ogikubo location of the shopping complex chain Lumine, and the Saison Card credit card service announced earlier this week that they have stopped using advertising illustrations by manga creator Hisashi Eguchi (Eiji, Stop! Hibari-kun, character designs on Roujin Z, Perfect Blue, Sonny Boy), following allegations Eguchi traced the respective art pieces.

In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) on October 3, Eguchi said he drew the illustration for Lumine Ogikubo's October 18-19 Chuo-sen Bunkasai (Chuo Line Culture Festival, pictured above right) based on a "perfect profile" he spotted on Instagram. However, he said the person in the still contacted him after the advertising debuted, and he learned upon looking at her account that she is Kyū Kanai, a writer and model who mainly posts on social media. He added that after further discussions, Kanai gave her consent.

Kanai responded to Eguchi's deleted post that same day by recalling she thought to herself, "My profile is plastered all over Ogikubo without me knowing…!?" She confirmed that she and Eguchi discussed the matter directly and added, "I belong to me and me alone, and as a person, I have various rights."

Lumine Ogikubo announced on Monday that it has discontinued all advertising material for the festival, although it did not name Eguchi in its announcement. The complex also announced it is canceling the festival's October 19 talk show “Chuo-sen to Manga to Jinsei” (Chuo Line, Manga, and Life).

Denny's Japan also announced on Monday that the company is reviewing the production process behind Eguchi's illustrations and will refrain from using the illustrations for the foreseeable future. The restaurant chain had used Eguchi's art in 2023.

Saison Card posted on Tuesday that it is investigating Eguchi's illustrations it has been using and is discontinuing their use until its future response becomes clear.

The Mainichi Shimbun paper requested a comment from Eguchi, and the artist said to the paper in an email that he is responding to the various companies' inquiries and investigating the issue of copyrights and portrait rights for illustrations with a lawyer. In the meantime, he "has been advised to refrain from commenting on social media or commenting to third parties and mass media at this current time." He asked the paper to please wait since he intends to eventually explain in his own words.

The eyeglasses store chain Zoff posted last Saturday that it is also investigating Eguchi's illustrations that it had used for a 2018 campaign, but did not state if it will no longer use his art.

Sources: Hisashi Eguchi's X/Twitter account (link 2), Kyū Sakai's X/Twitter account, Denny's Japan, Lumine Ogikubo, Saison Card, Manichi Shimbun, Zoff via Hachima Kikō (link 2)