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Kodansha

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Kodansha Ltd.
Native name
株式会社講談社
Kabushiki gaisha Kōdansha
FormerlyDainippon Yubenkai-Kodansha (1911–1958)
Company typeFamily-owned private KK
IndustryPublishing, music
Founded1911; 113 years ago (1911) (as Dai Nippon Yūbenkai)
December 1, 1931; 92 years ago (1931-12-01) (as Kodansha Ltd.)
FounderSeiji Noma
HeadquartersBunkyō,
Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Yoshinobu Noma [jp][1] (president and CEO)
ProductsBooks, light novels, magazines, manga, comics, CDs and DVDs (through King Records)
OwnerNoma family (Noma Cultural Foundation 39.2%)
Number of employees
914 (as of September 2013)
SubsidiariesKing Record Co., Ltd.
Kobunsha Co., Ltd.
Kodansha USA
Ichijinsha
Wani Books
Websitewww.kodansha.co.jp

Kodansha Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社講談社, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kōdansha) is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo.[2] Kodansha publishes the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, and Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, as well as the more literary magazines Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary, Nihongo Daijiten. Kodansha was founded by Seiji Noma in 1910, and members of his family continue as its owners either directly or through the Noma Cultural Foundation.

History

[edit]

Seiji Noma founded Kodansha in 1910 as a spin-off of the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai (大日本雄辯會, "Greater Japan Oratorical Society") and produced the literary magazine, Yūben, (雄辯) as its first publication.[3] The name Kodansha (taken from Kōdan Club (講談倶楽部), a now-defunct magazine published by the company) originated in 1911 when the publisher formally merged with the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai. The company has used its current legal name since 1958. It uses the motto "omoshirokute, tame ni naru" (面白くて、ためになる, "To be interesting and beneficial").

Kodansha Limited owns the Otowa Group, which manages subsidiary companies such as King Records (official name: King Record Co., Ltd.) and Kobunsha, and publishes Nikkan Gendai, a daily tabloid. It also has close ties with Disney and officially sponsors Tokyo Disneyland.

Kodansha is the largest publisher in Japan. Revenues dropped due to the 2002 recession in Japan and an accompanying downturn in the publishing industry: the company posted a loss in the 2002 financial year for the first time since the end of World War II. (The second-largest publisher, Shogakukan, has done relatively better. In the 2003 financial year, Kodansha had revenues of ¥167 billion compared to ¥150 billion for Shogakukan. Kodansha, at its peak, led Shogakukan by over ¥50 billion in revenue.)

Kodansha sponsors the prestigious Kodansha Manga Award which has run since 1977 (and since 1960 under other names).

Kodansha's headquarters in Tokyo once housed Noma Dōjō, a kendo practice-hall established by Seiji Noma in 1925. However, the hall was demolished in November 2007 and replaced with a dōjō in a new building nearby.

The company announced that it was closing its English-language publishing house, Kodansha International, at the end of April 2011.[4] Their American publishing house, Kodansha USA, will remain in operation.

Kodansha USA began issuing new publications under the head administrator of the international branch, Kentaro Tsugumi, starting in September 2012 with a hardcover release of The Spirit of Aikido.[5] Many of Kodansha USA's older titles have been reprinted. According to Daniel Mani of Kodansha USA, Inc., "Though we did stopped [sic] publishing new books for about a year starting from late 2011, we did continue to sell most of our older title throughout that period (so Kodansha USA never actually closed)."[citation needed]

In October 2016, Kodansha acquired publisher Ichijinsha and turned the company into its wholly-owned subsidiary.[6]

On November 30, 2022, Kodansha announced an extended partnership with Disney to release anime originals based on its manga exclusively on video streaming service Disney+ starting with the second season of Tokyo Revengers.[7]

On March 21, 2023, Kodansha announced a manga distribution service called "K Manga" which was initially launched exclusively in the United States on May 10, 2023. It started approximately with 400 titles, of which 70 were simultaneous publications of ongoing series.[8] On October 21, 2024, it was announced that the service became available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.[9]

On May 24, 2024, Kodansha announced that they acquired publisher Wani Books and turned it into a wholly-owned subsidiary.[10]

Relationships with other organizations

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The Kodansha company holds ownership in various broadcasting companies in Japan. It also owns shares in Nippon Cultural Broadcasting and Kobunsha. In the 2005 takeover-war for Nippon Broadcasting System between Livedoor and Fuji TV, Kodansha supported Fuji TV by selling its stock to Fuji TV.

NHK

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Kodansha has a somewhat complicated relationship with NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoukai), Japan's public broadcaster. Many of the manga and novels published by Kodansha have spawned anime adaptations. Animation such as Cardcaptor Sakura, aired in NHK's Eisei Anime Gekijō time-slot, and Kodansha published a companion magazine to the NHK children's show Okāsan to Issho. The two companies often clash editorially, however. The October 2000 issue of Gendai accused NHK of staging footage used in a news report in 1997 on dynamite fishing in Indonesia. NHK sued Kodansha in the Tokyo District Court, which ordered Kodansha to publish a retraction and pay ¥4 million in damages. Kodansha appealed the decision and reached a settlement whereby it had to issue only a partial retraction and to pay no damages.[11][unreliable source?] Gendai's sister magazine Shūkan Gendai nonetheless published an article probing further into the staged-footage controversy that has dogged NHK.

Honors

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List of magazines

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Manga magazines

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This is a list of manga magazines published by Kodansha.

Male-oriented manga magazines

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Kodomo (children's) manga magazines

Shōnen manga magazines

Discontinued
  • Shōnen Club (1914–1962)
  • Monthly Manga Shōnen (1947–1955)
  • Bokura (1954-1969)
  • Magazine Special (1983–2017)
  • Monthly Shōnen Magazine GREAT (1993–2009)
  • Monthly Shōnen Rival (2008–2014)
  • Magazine E-no (2009–2011)
  • Monthly Shonen Magazine+ (2011–2014)
  • Shōnen Magazine R (2015–2023)
  • Shōnen Magazine Edge (2015–2023)

Seinen manga magazines

  • Weekly Young Magazine (since 1980)
  • Monthly Young Magazine (since 2009)
  • Morning (weekly since 1982; originally called Comic Morning)
  • Afternoon (monthly, since 1986)
  • Good! Afternoon (monthly since 2012; bi-monthly from 2008 to 2012)
  • Comic Days (app/website, since 2018)
  • Yanmaga Web (website, since 2020)
  • Morning Two Web (website, since 2022)
Discontinued
  • Young Magazine Zōkan Kaizokuban (ヤングマガジン増刊海賊版) (1986–1995)
  • Mr. Magazine (1991–2000)
  • Monthly Magazine Z (1999–2009)
  • Young Magazine Uppers (1998–2004)
  • Morning Two (2006–2022)
  • Nemesis (2010–2018)
  • Young Magazine the 3rd (2014–2021)
  • Evening (2001-2023)

Female-oriented manga magazines

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Shōjo manga magazines

  • Nakayoshi (monthly since 1954)
  • Bessatsu Friend (monthly since 1965)
  • Dessert (monthly since 1996)
  • Nakayoshi Lovely (5 issues per year, since ????)
  • The Dessert (monthly, since ????)
Discontinued

Josei manga magazines

  • Be Love (monthly 1980–1982, 2018–present, bimonthly 1982–2018; originally called Be in Love)
  • Kiss (monthly since 1992)
  • Kiss Plus (bi-monthly, ????-2014; succeeded by Hatsu Kiss)
  • ITAN (quarterly since 2010)
  • Hatsu Kiss (bi-monthly 2014–2018, monthly 2018–2021)

Web magazines

  • Ane Friend
  • Comic Tint
  • Honey Milk

Literary magazines

[edit]
  • Gunzo, monthly literary magazine
  • Mephisto, tri-annual literary magazine focusing on mystery and detective stories
  • Faust

Book series

[edit]

Published by Kodansha Ltd.

[edit]
  • Kodansha Gakujutsu Bunko (講談社学術文庫) (English, "Kodansha Academic Paperback Library") (1970)

Published by Kodansha International/USA Ltd.

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  • Japanese for Busy People Series
  • Japanese for Young People Series
  • Kodansha Bilingual Books[13][14]
  • Kodansha Globe[15][16]
  • This Beautiful World[17]

Miss iD

[edit]

Kodansha organizes the Miss iD pageant, which started in 2012. iD stands for "identity", "idol", "I", and "diversity", and it is described as a pageant to discover diverse role models for the "new era" without being bound to conventional beauty and lifestyle standards. Married and transgender women are allowed to participate.[18][19][20] The Miss ID title is awarded to more than one person each year, and holders of the title include actress Tina Tamashiro,[21] singer Rie Kaneko,[22] and musician Ena Fujita.[23] Computer-generated character Saya and AI character Rinna were semifinalists in the 2018 pageant.[24]

Awards given

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Kodansha presents the following awards:

  • The Noma Prize for Literature
  • The Noma Literary Prize for New Writers
  • The Noma Literary Prize for Children’s Literature
  • The Noma Publishing Cultural Prize
  • The Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature
  • The Yoshikawa Eiji Bunko Prize
  • The Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers
  • The Yoshikawa Eiji Cultural Prize
  • The Kodansha Manga Awards
  • The Kodansha Honda Yasuharu Non-Fiction Award
  • The Kodansha Science Publication Award
  • The Kodansha Picture Book Award
  • The Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature
  • The Edogawa Rampo Award
  • The Kodansha Media Award[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Message(language->en->message)". Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  2. ^ "About us". Kodansha Children's Books. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "Books: Clubby Magazines". Time. September 10, 1934. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  4. ^ Kamiya, Setsuko; Aoki, Mizuho (March 4, 2011). "Kodansha International to close doors". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Ueshiba, Kisshomaru (September 4, 2012). The Spirit of Aikido. Kodansha USA, Inc. ISBN 9781568364094. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015.
  6. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (October 14, 2016). "Kodansha Acquires Ichijinsha, Makes It Into Subsidiary Company". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Brzeski, Patrick (November 29, 2022). "Disney Expands Partnership With Japan's Kodansha to Release More Anime Originals (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022.
  8. ^ Hazra, Adriana (March 21, 2023). "Kodansha to Launch New 'K Manga' Platform in U.S. (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  9. ^ Tai, Anita (October 21, 2024). "K Manga Expands into Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Tai, Anita (May 26, 2024). "Kodansha Acquires Wani Books". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  11. ^ "NHK インドネシア「爆弾漁法」". Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  12. ^ "Awards and Special Prizes: Recipients List: 1973–1995". Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Kodansha Bilingual Books - Book Series List Archived January 25, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  14. ^ Kodansha International's Bilingual Books Series Archived June 23, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, tofugu.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  15. ^ Kodansha Globe (Kodansha International) - Book Series List Archived June 23, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  16. ^ Kodansha Globe aims to keep old titles on shelves Archived June 23, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, deseret.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  17. ^ This Beautiful World ( Kodansha International) - Book Series List Archived June 23, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "Miss iDって？". ミスiD (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  19. ^ "Miss iD". Japanese kawaii idol music culture news | Tokyo Girls Update. November 2017. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  20. ^ "「かわいい」よりも「強い武器」を手に入れよう。年間4000人のオーディションを運営して思うこと". ハフポスト (in Japanese). December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  21. ^ "玉城ティナ・ゆうこすら輩出「ミスiD 2020」グランプリ決定 15歳・嵐莉菜に栄冠 - モデルプレス". モデルプレス - ライフスタイル・ファッションエンタメニュース (in Japanese). August 2019. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  22. ^ "「ミスｉＤ２０１５」グランプリ金子理江 衝撃の貧乏エピソード「ワゴン車が実家」 – 東京スポーツ新聞社". 東スポＷeb (in Japanese). March 30, 2016. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  23. ^ "今、一番脱げる「私」。藤田恵名、独占インタビュー | cinemas PLUS". cinema.ne.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  24. ^ ""実写にしか見えない"3DCG女子高生「Saya」、「ミスiD」セミファイナリストに". ITmedia NEWS (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  25. ^ "SUSTAINABILITY｜KODANSHA CORPORATE SITE Inspire Impossible Stories". KODANSHA.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
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