Japan Pop Scope｜Your Daily Dose of J-Culture & Trends

### Objective Information * **Subject:** Rie Qudan * Japanese novelist, born in 1990. * Winner of the Akutagawa Prize in 2025. * **Award-winning work:** *Tokyo-to Dojo-to* * **Reason for the controversy:** * During the press conference after winning the Akutagawa Prize, she openly admitted to using ChatGPT for parts of her novel. * This admission was particularly shocking within the Japanese literary world, which traditionally values authenticity and human artistry. * **Qudan's argument:** * She views AI as a "co-creator," not a tool for plagiarism. * She used it to refine her language, rhythm, and to generate unexpected ideas. * **"Beauty" Analogy:** * Qudan compared using AI to a beauty routine. * She suggested that AI, like makeup or skincare, is a tool to enhance and draw out the creative potential that is already there. * **Societal Implications:** * Her admission challenges the traditional definitions of "autho...

## 💬 TL;DR Japan is using AI to hunt down anime and manga piracy online—and it’s spending millions to make it happen. This new system scans images, text, and site layouts to identify illegal uploads and fast-track takedowns. It’s a bold move to protect one of the country’s biggest cultural exports. But the tech isn’t foolproof. It needs to keep evolving to outsmart pirates, avoid false alarms, and respect international laws. And most importantly, the industry still needs to fix the root of the problem: making legal access better and more global. If done right, this AI crackdown could reshape the future of anime fandom—for creators and consumers alike. --- Let’s face it—piracy and anime have a long, tangled history. If you were an overseas fan in the early 2000s, chances are you watched your favorite shows on less-than-legal sites. That “watch now” button on some sketchy page? It was often the only way to catch the latest episodes before they ever made it to Netflix or Crunchy...