[1] Chūō Kōron publishes a wide variety of material, including novels, photographs and reports based on various philosophical, economic, political, cultural and social topics.
[6] Japanese right-wing ultranationalist groups were outraged and mounted a long series of protests and attacks aimed at Chūō Kōron in an attempt to force an apology.
"[8] Shimanaka was deeply shaken by the attack on his household and issued a statement of remorse in which he repudiated Fukazawa's story as “unsuitable for print" and offered his "deepest apologies" for “having disturbed society to the point of causing violent incidents.
"[9] Thereafter, Shimanaka forced the magazine's editor-in-chief to resign,[9] and negotiated a deal with right-wing groups to end the attacks on Chūō Kōron in exchange for a promise to adopt a more "neutral" editorial policy.
[10] The Shimanaka incident has been cited by scholars as helping to cement in place the so-called Chrysanthemum Taboo (菊タブー, kiku tabū, named after the Imperial family's chrysanthemum crest) in postwar Japan that informally but powerfully forbids literary or artistic expression directly featuring the Emperor or the Imperial family.
[2] In 1994, Shimanaka resigned as president of Chūō Kōron after 45 years, succeeded by his eldest son Yukio, and became chairman of the board of directors.