The Japanese government officially asked internet service providers in Japan to block access to three pirated manga websites including Mangamura in April 2018.
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Wednesday that a group of four friends including Hoshino were involved with operating the Mangamura site.
According to Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), between September 2017 and February 2018, users accessed Mangamura about 620 million times.