Shuiesha Weekly Shonen Jump Find Themselves In Hot Water Over Policy Towards Hiring Female Editors

It seems Weekly Shonen Jump personnel were recently recruiting at a Japanese college where an official from the company was asked if it's possible for women to become editors at Weekly Shonen Jump.  The official reportedly responded, "It's not without precedent, but you have to understand the hearts of young boys."  These remarks set of a firestorm of debate on LINE and Twitter in Japan.  As a result Huffpost Japan reached out to Shuiesha for a statement which you can read below.

Our company conducts seminars at a number of university campuses. Regarding the matter of female editors at Jump, our statement is as follows:
"It is not unprecedented. There are women at Jump+, and publications like Young Jump have had female editors in the past. Women's fashion magazines need people who understand women's fashion regardless of gender, so for a shonen manga it's important to understand the hearts of boys."

Also, new recruits to the company are not selected based on the department. We hire suitable people for the company as a whole, and after they have joined, they are assigned to a place that suits them. Regarding the statement made above, we cannot answer any questions regarding the date or the name of the university it took place in.

HuffPost Japan went on to note that the repsonse didn't directly answer the original question of whether women could become editors within the main Shonen Jump magazine publicion (Jump+ is an online-only offshoot). The controversy has caused past statements by deputy editor in chief Kōhei Ōnishi to resurface from an event celebrating the publication's 50th Anniversary in October 2018.  Onishi reportedly stated that the main WSJ magazine has never had a women editor in its entire history and described the atmoshpere in its offices as a boys-only high school.

This debate has also led to many pointing out the irony of male editors working at shojo magazines.