Japan’s Denny’s Restaurants, Other Businesses Pull Hisashi Eguchi Art After Tracing Accusations – Interest

this Danny’s Japanese restaurant chain, shopping mall chain Lumine Ogikubo and Saison Card credit card service announced earlier this week that they have stopped using the manga creator’s advertising illustrations Nao Eguchi (Eiji, stop! Skylark-kuncharacter design Soft Gold Z, perfect blue, sonny boy), following accusations that Eguchi tracked down the corresponding artwork.

In a now-deleted post on X (formerly twitter) On October 3, Eguchi said he drew illustrations for Lumine Ogikubo’s Chuo-sen Bunkasai (Chuo Line Culture Festival, above right) on October 18 and 19, based on the “perfect profile” he found on Instagram. However, he said the person in the stills contacted him after the ad was launched, and after checking her account he learned she was Kyū Kanai, a writer and model who posts mostly on social media. He added that after further discussion, Kanai agreed.

Kanai responded to Eguchi’s deleted post that day, recalling her thoughts: “My profile has been posted all over Ogikubo, and I didn’t know it…!?” She confirmed that she and Eguchi discussed the matter directly, adding: “I belong to myself, and as a human being, I have various rights.”

Lumine Ogikubo announced on Monday that it had stopped providing all advertising materials for the festival, but Eguchi was not mentioned by name in the announcement. The complex also announced the cancellation of the October 19 holiday talk show “Chuo-sen to Manga to Jinsei” (Chuo-sen to Manga to Jinsei).

Danny’s Japan also announced on Monday that it was reviewing the production process behind Eguchi’s illustrations and would avoid using them for the foreseeable future. The restaurant chain used Eguchi’s artwork in 2023.

Saison Card announced on Tuesday that it is investigating the Eguchi illustrations it has been using and will stop using them until a clear response in the future.

this daily news The newspaper asked Eguchi for comment, and the artist told the newspaper in an email that he was responding to inquiries from various companies and working with lawyers to investigate copyright and portrait rights issues with the illustrations. At the same time, he was “advised not to comment on social media or to third parties and mass media at this time.” He asked the newspaper to wait as he intended to eventually explain in his own words.

Optical chain Zoff announced on Saturday that it was also investigating Eguchi’s use of illustrations in a 2018 promotional campaign, but did not say whether it would no longer use his art.

Source: Nao EguchiX/twitter account (Link 2), Kei Sakai’s X/twitter account, Danny’s Japan, Ogikubo Lumens, saisenka, news handle, Zov pass Noriko Yashima (Link 2)