3 Taiwanese Arrested for Possessing Pirated Weekly Shonen Jump Copies; Volumes Carry 1st Installment of ‘One Piece’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:34 JST, June 21, 2025

The Aichi Prefectural Police on Friday arrested three Taiwanese people for violating the Copyright Law by possessing, for the purpose of selling, pirated copies of Weekly Shonen Jump with the first installment of the popular “One Piece” manga series.

The three, including a 48-year-old company executive from Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, were found to be in possession of six pirated copies of the magazine inside a car parked in Nasushiobara on June 18, the police said.

They have allegedly conspired to infringe on the copyright of the publisher, Shueisha Inc.

The three are believed to have domestically shipped fake copies of the weekly manga magazine which they had received from an overseas ringleader, taking in several million yen per month in sales.

The issue that carried the first installment of “One Piece” is considered to be highly valuable, fetching approximately ¥10,000 per copy through online sales by private individuals.

However, the confiscated copies differed from legitimate ones in color and paper quality, as well as having some printing defects.

A Shueisha representative said, “We are responding firmly to the malicious copyright infringement and other issues. We want people to exercise caution when making purchases.”