KOICHIRO ITO (PHOTO BY MICHAEL LOCCISANO) AND HIS BEST SELLING ANIME "SUZUME"

Koichiro Ito (52), an anime producer involved in several mega best-selling anime was arrested on child pornography charges by Wakayama Prefecture Police.

As reported in Mainichi, the local police were investigating a child pornography case and found the producer's name on a list. Ito is accused of asking a 15-year-old girl he met online to send him nudes in September 2021. In addition, based on another report from local Japanese television station, TBS, Koichiro Ito had transferred 12,500 yen (Rp1.3 million) to the girl in exchange for the photos.

The investigation team believes that Ito already knew that the girl was underage and that there were probably many similar cases he had committed. Ito also admitted to the police, "I had a similar exchange with another person, so I can't remember if it was this girl or not. "

He was arrested by the local police close to his residence in Tokyo's Shibuya on Wednesday (22/02) 


Koichiro Ito and His Works

Koichiro Ito is a producer who joined CoMix Wave Films. Together with Makoto Shinkai as director, the studio made the film "Your Name" (2016) which became a mega best selling film with revenues of more than $ 358 million worldwide or almost equivalent to Rp 5,581 billion. Besides Your Name, Koichiro Ito is also a producer for Weathering With You (2020) and most recently Suzume (2022) which began airing in Indonesian theaters on March 8.