Kodansha
Encyclopedia
, the largest Japan
ese publisher, produces the manga
magazines Nakayoshi
, Afternoon
, Evening
, and Weekly Shonen Magazine
, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō
, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten
. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō
, Tokyo
. the Noma family—relatives of the founder—continues to own Kodansha.
Kodansha Limited owns the Otowa Group, which manages subsidiary companies such as King Records and Kobunsha
, and publishes Nikkan Gendai, a daily tabloid. It also has close ties with The Walt Disney Company
, and officially sponsors Tokyo Disneyland
.
The largest publisher in Japan, Kodansha once had an annual revenue of more than ¥200 billion. 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 the World War II. (The second-largest publisher, Shogakukan
, has done relatively better. In the 2003 financial year, Kodansha had revenues of ¥167 billion, as 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 in its form 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. The hall was demolished in November 2007, however, 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. Their American publishing house, Kodansha Comics USA
, will still be open.
Group's stock. It also holds shares in Nippon Cultural Broadcasting
, along with Kobunsha. In the recent takeover-war for Nippon Broadcasting System
between Livedoor
and Fuji TV
, Kodansha supported Fuji TV by selling its stock to Fuji TV.
Kodansha has a somewhat complicated relationship with NHK
, 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 to pay ¥4 million in damages. Kodansha appealed the decision, and reached a settlement where it had to issue only a partial retraction, and to pay no damages. Gendais sister magazine Shūkan Gendai nonetheless published an article which probed further into the staged-footage controversy which has dogged NHK.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese publisher, produces the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
magazines Nakayoshi
Nakayoshi
is a shōjo manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First published in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 50 years worth of manga publication history. The target demographic for Nakayoshi is aimed at young girls between...
, Afternoon
Afternoon (magazine)
is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...
, Evening
Evening (magazine)
is a bi-weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha, aimed at adult men. It is printed in black and white on newsprint and saddle-stapled in B5 format, and retails for 330 yen...
, and Weekly Shonen Magazine
Weekly Shonen Magazine
, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...
, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō
Gunzo
Gunzo was a 7th century duke of the Alamanni under Frankish sovereignty. His residence was at villa Iburninga at Lake Constance...
, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten
Nihongo Daijiten
The is a color-illustrated Japanese dictionary edited by Umesao Tadao and published by Kodansha in 1989 and 1995 .-History:...
. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō
Bunkyo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. the Noma family—relatives of the founder—continues to own Kodansha.
History
Seiji Noma (Noma Seiji) founded Kodansha in 1909 as a spinoff of the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai (Greater Japan Oratorical Society) and produced the literary magazine Yūben as its first publication. The name Kodansha (taken from "Kōdan Club", 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 legal name since 1958. It uses the motto Omoshirokute tame ni naru ("To be interesting and beneficial").Kodansha Limited owns the Otowa Group, which manages subsidiary companies such as King Records and Kobunsha
Kobunsha
Kobunsha is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines.Kobunsha was first established on October 1, 1945 and belongs to the Kodansha group....
, and publishes Nikkan Gendai, a daily tabloid. It also has close ties with The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, and officially sponsors Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
.
The largest publisher in Japan, Kodansha once had an annual revenue of more than ¥200 billion. Revenues dropped due to the 2002 recession in Japan
Economic history of Japan
The economic history of Japan is one of the most studied for its spectacular growth after the Meiji Restoration when it became the first non-European Power and after the Second World War when the island nation rose to become the world's second largest economy....
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 the World War II. (The second-largest publisher, Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
, has done relatively better. In the 2003 financial year, Kodansha had revenues of ¥167 billion, as 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
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
, which has run in its form since 1977 (and since 1960 under other names).
Kodansha's headquarters in Tokyo once housed Noma Dōjō
Noma dojo
Noma Dojo is a privately owned kendo training hall, or dojo, located in Tokyo's Bunkyo ward close to Gokoku-ji. The original Noma Dojo was established in 1925 by Seiji Noma, founder of the Kodansha publishing house, but demolished by the company in late 2007 and replaced with a modern training...
, a kendo
Kendo
, meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...
practice-hall established by Seiji Noma in 1925. The hall was demolished in November 2007, however, 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. Their American publishing house, Kodansha Comics USA
Kodansha Comics USA
Kodansha Comics USA is a manga publishing imprint. It is the American subsidiary of Japanese publisher Kodansha. The company was formed on July 1, 2008. Their launching titles were the re-prints of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira manga, previously published by Dark...
, will still be open.
Relationships with other organizations
The Kodansha company holds ownership in various broadcasters in Japan, and is believed to hold around 20% of the TBSTokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
Group's stock. It also holds shares in Nippon Cultural Broadcasting
Nippon Cultural Broadcasting
is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo which broadcasts to the Kanto area. It is one of the two flagship radio stations of National Radio Network and also has a relationship with JOLF and Fuji Television....
, along with Kobunsha. In the recent takeover-war for Nippon Broadcasting System
Nippon Broadcasting System
, or JOLF, is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo. Together with Nippon Cultural Broadcasting it is a flagship station of the National Radio Network...
between Livedoor
Livedoor
is an Internet service provider based in Tokyo, Japan, that runs a web portal and numerous other businesses. The company was founded and led in its first 10 years by Takafumi Horie, known as "Horiemon" in Japan...
and Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
, Kodansha supported Fuji TV by selling its stock to Fuji TV.
Kodansha has a somewhat complicated relationship with NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
, Japan's public broadcaster. Many of the manga and novels published by Kodansha have spawned anime adaptations. Animation such as Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura
, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...
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 to pay ¥4 million in damages. Kodansha appealed the decision, and reached a settlement where it had to issue only a partial retraction, and to pay no damages. Gendais sister magazine Shūkan Gendai nonetheless published an article which probed further into the staged-footage controversy which has dogged NHK.
See also
- Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial HouseEdwin O. Reischauer Memorial HouseThe Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial House is the former home of American diplomat and Japanese scholar Edwin O. Reischauer in Belmont, Massachusetts....
- Kodansha Noma Memorial MuseumKodansha Noma Memorial MuseumKodansha Noma Memorial Museum is located in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. Its collection includes fine Japanese art objects.The museum was opened in April 2000, in order to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Japan's largest publishing company, Kodansha Publishing Company...
- Noma AwardNoma AwardThe Noma Award for Publishing in Africa is a $10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars who publish in Africa. Established in 1979, the award is annual and given to any new book published in three categories: literature, juvenile and scholarly...
- Tuttle PublishingTuttle PublishingTuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions...