Apothecary Diaries comic book artist pleads guilty to tax evasion

NekokurageIllustrator for the manga version of Medicine preparation diary, pleaded guilty to tax evasion worth 47 million JPY (298,754 USD). It’s unclear what will happen to the manga because of this. [Thanks, Live Door!]

The article in question refers to Nekokurage by her real name, Erika Ikeda. She pleaded guilty and stated that she planned to file several years’ worth of taxes at once. According to the prosecution, she started her work as a cartoonist in 2010. That was also when her acquaintance told her that she needed to file her own taxes. Although Ikeda knew that this was a legal obligation, she instead chose to prioritize her deadline.

In fact, in the past, Ikeda filed multiple years of tax returns at the same time. Her acquaintance wasn’t the only one concerned about her tax problems. Ikeda’s editor also urged her to file tax returns. This is because if problems arise from this, they could risk having the manga canceled. The author gives Medicine preparation diary (Natsu Hyuga) also tells Ikeda (Nekokurage) that she should talk to an accountant. Although Ikeda earned about 260 million JPY (about 1.7 million USD) from 2019 to 2022, she failed to declare her income in time and thus avoided taxes worth 47 million JPY.

Ikeda posted one apology on her Twitter account (X). She took full responsibility for her past ignorance, claiming that she has now paid all the taxes and fees she owes. Ultimately, she said that this was purely her personal matter. It has nothing to do with the people working on the manga version of Medicine preparation diary or Hyuga Natsu.

Since the case is still ongoing, there is no word on what will happen to the Medicine preparation diary manga, there is also no information about Ikeda’s punishment.