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The story
On September 7, children’s book publisher Fukuinkan Shoten deleted and apologized for a post on X (formerly Twitter) related to its flagship title “Guri and Gura,” which has sold over 5.71 million copies to date, after receiving numerous complaints that the content was “inappropriate.” The company says it will strengthen its post-review process going forward. However, the original article doesn’t specify exactly what about the post was considered problematic, and the 5ch thread saw a mix of confused comments wondering what the issue even was, along with opinions about the fact that a long-established publisher was forced to apologize over a single social media post.
Mon, Sep 7, 10:50 AM
Children’s book publisher Fukuinkan Shoten apologized on the 7th over a post related to its 1967 picture book “Guri and Gura,” which has sold more than 5.71 million copies to date.
In a statement posted to its official X account, the company said, “Regarding the post we made from this account yesterday, we received numerous comments that the wording was inappropriate.” It went on to apologize: “We take everyone’s feedback seriously and have deleted the post in question. Going forward, we will strengthen our review process for posts to prevent this from happening again. We sincerely apologize for this incident.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
✕ underhanded (inken)
◯ "Inmu" (a well-known meme-slang term from a cult genre of edited gay-themed video clips)
Same here, I don't get the intent either
If that's how you feel, just don't repost it
This guy went and stuck his nose in on his own
The liver of a goose you can find just about anywhere
Nobody's gonna get this one
If anyone's gonna get that, it'd be the core 5ch generation
What idiots, they don't even understand their own brand image
I mean, isn't the whole "5ch vibe" itself
just lame and embarrassing to begin with
"Brand image"? All that gets you is a fat paycheck
You can just feel the need for validation leaking out
Sure, there's such a thing as edgy "flirting with controversy" marketing for official accounts
but this person clearly doesn't get how heavy it is to carry a company's name
Guess that's Gen Z for you
Just explain it properly
It's literally just a name change from marriage or divorce, I don't get the point of dodging it
They can't just go explaining someone else's business without permission lol
They just want to stir things up — must be one of those "living-their-best-life" types (riajuu)
No, they could
"The author has changed her name."
Even accounting for privacy, that's really all it'd take
The "(playing dumb)" thing is just too creepy
For a picture book company, playing dumb is the right call over your kind of explanation
>"Is that response really okay for Fukuinkan Shoten?"
Whoa… they really fed the trolls here
Between this and the homemade Chiikawa figure thing, why has X been so on edge lately?
Then why did this idiot publisher delete the post and apologize, though
If they didn't even want to explain, they shouldn't have touched it by quote-tweeting it in the first place
Because you guys kicked up a fuss
It was just a bad way of quoting it — nothing wrong with the original post itself
Well, different authors have different philosophies on that
It's rare for a writer to change their pen name to match their new legal name after marriage
but I guess that's just the kind of creature an author is
I mean, it's a pen name anyway, so why not just leave it as is?
Marriage or divorce, whichever it was…
People have always been able to work under their maiden name
She just chose to change it of her own will
Muroyama Mayumi, who does "Asari-chan" together with her sister,
originally wanted a pen name combining both their first names,
but their editor at the time hated pen names,
so apparently they just went and used the older sister's full real name instead
I guess here too it was either the editor or the authors themselves insisting on real names
Plenty of university researchers keep using their maiden name too
And plenty of men marry into their wife's family too, so keeping the old surname isn't only a women's thing
If this author deliberately chose her new surname and outsiders are turning it into a joke, that's kind of sad for her
For researchers, changing your surname means your pre-marriage papers and research get hard to find in searches
which is basically the same as having all your achievements erased
so a name change from marriage can be a huge blow
Background and Key Points of This Story
Fukuinkan Shoten is a long-established children’s book publisher founded in 1916, and “Guri and Gura” is known as a long-running bestseller since its 1967 publication. This apology came after the company’s post was flagged as “inappropriate,” but the original article never reveals the actual wording of the post, leaving readers unclear on exactly what the issue was. On the 5ch thread, comments split between discomfort at a major publisher posting in such a casual tone and pushback calling the critics “annoying.” The discussion also gradually broadened into the question of how authors and researchers who change their surname through marriage or divorce can maintain continuity with their previous name — a topic some posters related to as a familiar social issue. That said, it’s worth noting that whether this theme was actually connected to the content of the original post can’t be confirmed from the article alone, and remains speculation within the thread.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Fukuinkan Shoten Apologizes and Deletes Post Over Backlash Involving Beloved Picture Book “Guri and Gura”.”
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