Man Arrested for Selling Fake Miyazaki, Shinkai Sketches

Okayama prefectural police department arrested an unemployed 32-year-old man in Hino on suspicion of fraud on Wednesday. The man was allegedly selling autographed illustrations via internet auction and claiming they were created by Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai.

The suspect allegedly had 279 illustrations on display from last July to this past March. When the police searched his home, they also found illustrations purportedly signed by Masashi Kishimoto, Takashi Yanase, and Shigeru Mizuki, among others.

The man was specifically arrested for two illustrations that he put up for auction in October and November of last year, claiming one was by Miyazaki and one was by Shinkai. A 34-year-old man from Bizen, Okayama paid 17,000 yen (US$149) for one of them while a 23-year-old man from Toyohashi, Aichi purchased another for 7,750 yen (US$68). With shipping, the two paid a total of 25,550 yen (US$224) for the allegedly counterfeit illustrations.

Shinkai himself noticed the display last September and reported them as fakes on his blog.​