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Tokushima Shrine Halts Art Unveiling Due to Alleged Use of Toriko Character

<p><img src="/images/cms/news/97068/as20151228002487_comm.jpg" border="1" align="right">A shrine for honoring the war dead in Saika, Tokushima canceled its December 26 unveiling of a giant <i>ema</i> (picture on wooden boards hung at shrines) it commissioned. The shrine canceled the formal unveiling after discovering that the <i>ema</i> allegedly contained the unlicensed likeness of a character from <cite class="e person"><a href="/encyclopedia/people.php?id=12943">Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro</a></cite>'s <cite><cite class="e anime"><a href="/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=10748">Toriko</a></cite></cite><cite class="e anime"><a href="/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=39851">!<i> manga</i></a></cite>.<p><cite>The <cite class="e company"><a href="/encyclopedia/company.php?id=8866">Asahi Shimbun</a></cite></cite> newspaper <a href="http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASHDX5FTWHDXPUTB00F.html" target="_blank">confirmed</a> with the shrine that it had commissioned a 2.2-meter tall, 3.6-meter long (about 7.2 by 12 foot) "jumbo <i>ema</i>" from the Tokushima-based illustrator MUSTONE, and displayed the <i>ema</i> in the shrine beginning on December 23. Visitors pointed out that the <i>ema</i> features a character who looks similar to a character from <cite><cite class="e anime">Toriko</cite></cite>. The <i>ema</i> was commissioned with the theme of a monkey, to coincide with 2016 corresponding to the monkey in the Chinese calendar.<p><img src="/thumbnails/max400x400/cms/news/97068/81souk629al.jpg" align="left">In a statement to <cite>The <cite class="e company">Asahi Shimbun</cite></cite>, the shrine stated that it recognized that MUSTONE drew a character [from <cite><cite class="e anime">Toriko</cite></cite>] without permission, so it has covered the <i>ema</i> with a cloth and canceled the unveiling, and are seeking permission from publisher <cite class="e company"><a href="/encyclopedia/company.php?id=909">Shueisha</a></cite>. A person involved with the shrine stated: "It is unfortunate, but we will have a decision as to whether to reschedule the unveiling or cancel it altogether before the end of the year." <cite class="e company">Shueisha</cite>'s public relations department issued a statement to <cite>The <cite class="e company">Asahi Shimbun</cite></cite> saying: "The person in charge is not present, so we cannot comment until <em>[2016]</em>."