The publisher Shinchōsha has a kōetsu-bu, a department for checking manuscripts. Its own site says that 60 people work there and check every publication. Their checks go beyond typos to the facts of what is described. One note to an author read: “From Tokyo to Nagoya, a car will not arrive in this time, even on the expressway.” Another noted that the hero’s home was on the first floor, while in the previous book it had been on the second.
The critic Tokuoka Takao called the department a lone demon of the publishing world, with an attitude that never allows a mistake. On October 5, 2016, Nippon Television began broadcasting the drama Jimi ni sugoi! Kōetsu gāru Kōno Etsuko (Plain but Amazing! Proofreading Girl Kōno Etsuko), with Ishihara Satomi in the title role. It was based on a novel by Miyagi Ayako.