50th Shogakukan Manga Award forshōjo manga (Sand Chronicles)
Ritsuko Matsumoto (Japanese:松本 律子,Hepburn:Matsumoto Ritsuko, January 25, 1974 – January 29, 2024),[2] known by the pseudonymHinako Ashihara (芦原 妃名子,Ashihara Hinako),[3] was a Japanesemanga artist.
Ashihara was found dead inNikkō,Tochigi Prefecture[5] on January 29, 2024, in a suspected suicide.[2] A missing persons report was filed the day before at 4 PM when police received a call that Ashihara was missing.[6]
Three days before the discovery of her body, Ashihara posted on her blog, criticizingNippon TV for their television drama adaptation of her mangaSexy Tanaka-san for being unfaithful to the original.[7] She later deleted the blog post and apologized.[8][9]
On February 15, 2024, NTV issued a press statement where they apologized to Ashihara's family and the TV drama's cast and crew, additionally stating that they have launched an inquiry withShogakukan's representatives.[10][11] The results of that investigation were released in June, concluding that due to miscommunication between Shogakukan and NTV, none of Ashihara's conditions for adaptation faithfulness and script rewrites were conveyed to the production staff at NTV.[12] In July, NTV issued new guidelines for live-action productions, internal communications, and human resources to address the issues found during the investigation.[13]
