US public school book bans top 11,000 in a year, including Japanese manga, PEN America says
In short
PEN America said 11,982 books were removed or restricted in US public schools in the 2025–26 school year, up sharply from 6,870 the year before and the most since it began tracking in 2021–22. Japanese works including Hajime Isayama's manga “Attack on Titan” were among them. Texas accounted for 8,193 cases and Florida 3,212, and the group said artificial intelligence is increasingly used in removal decisions.
Read the full story 1 min read
PEN America, a US nonprofit, said on October 5 that 11,982 books were removed or placed under access restrictions in US public schools during the 2025–26 school year after being deemed inappropriate, Sankei Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan reported. The figure is up sharply from 6,870 the previous year and is the highest since the group began its survey in the 2021–22 school year. [ 4 , 5 ]
The count refers to the number of instances in which a specific title was designated a banned book by a school district, according to Sankei Shimbun. Texas accounted for 8,193 cases and Florida 3,212, both far above other states, the report said. Excluding duplicates, the number of distinct titles nationwide was 7,370. [ 4 ]
Japanese works are among the affected titles, including Hajime Isayama's popular manga “Attack on Titan”, the reports said. [ 4 , 5 ]
The 2025–26 school year overlaps with the period after the second Trump Republican administration took office, Sankei Shimbun reported. Conservative groups and Republican politicians have been pressuring school districts to ban specific books dealing with themes such as violence, sexual content and LGBTQ issues, the report said. [ 4 ]
Sankei Shimbun also reported that artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in decisions to remove books, without giving further detail. The documents do not record any response from school districts or from groups that support the removals. [ 4 ]
Tokyo Shimbun, Nishi-Nippon Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan carried the same wire item under headlines reporting a sharp increase in US school book bans, exceeding 10,000 cases a year, with Japanese manga among the works affected. Yahoo! News Japan added a prompt inviting readers to ask AI how book bans are designated in US public schools. [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]
Why it matters
The figures cover a period overlapping with the second Trump administration, and PEN America's count points to pressure from conservative groups and Republican politicians on school districts over titles dealing with violence, sexual content and LGBTQ themes. The inclusion of Japanese manga places Japanese publishing in a US school-censorship dispute.
Key facts
- PEN America said 11,982 books were removed or restricted in US public schools in the 2025–26 school year, up from 6,870 the previous year. [ 4 , 5 ]
- The group said it was the highest number since its survey began in the 2021–22 school year. [ 4 , 5 ]
- Japanese works were among the banned titles, including Hajime Isayama's manga “Attack on Titan”. [ 4 , 5 ]
- Texas accounted for 8,193 cases and Florida 3,212, far above other states. [ 4 ]
- The number of distinct titles, excluding duplicates, was 7,370 nationwide. [ 4 ]
- PEN America said artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in decisions to remove books. [ 4 ]
- The counting period overlaps with the period after the second Trump Republican administration took office. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the figures published by PEN America are disputed by school districts or political groups. Only PEN America's count is cited; no response from school districts or conservative groups appears in the documents.
- Which Japanese works besides “Attack on Titan” were removed or restricted, and in which school districts. The documents cite “Attack on Titan” as an example and say Japanese works were included, without naming others or specifying districts.
- Which artificial intelligence tools are used in book-removal decisions and how widely. The claim that AI use is increasing comes from a single document and is attributed to PEN America without further detail.
- PEN America reported that book removals and restrictions in US public schools reached 11,982 in the 2025–26 school year, up from 6,870 and the most since its survey began in 2021–22. Reported by a single source so far
- The banned titles include Japanese works such as Hajime Isayama's manga “Attack on Titan”. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- PEN America releases its count of book removals and restrictions in US public schools for the 2025–26 school year. [ 4 , 5 ]
- Tokyo Shimbun publishes its report on the rise in US school book bans, including Japanese manga. [ 2 ]
- Nishi-Nippon Shimbun publishes the same headline. [ 3 ]
- Sankei Shimbun publishes detailed figures: 11,982 cases, 6,870 the year before, Texas at 8,193 and Florida at 3,212. [ 4 ]
- Yahoo! News Japan carries the wire report along with an AI question prompt. [ 5 ]