is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces 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 1909, and members of his family continue as its owners either directly or through the Noma Cultural Foundation.

History

Seiji Noma founded Kodansha in 1909 as a spin-off 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 current legal name since 1958. It uses the motto . 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, 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 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 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.'' Many of Kodansha USA's older titles have been reprinted. According to Daniel Mani of Kodansha USA, Inc., "Though we did stopped icpublishing 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)." In October 2016, Kodansha acquired publisher Ichijinsha and turned the company into its wholly owned subsidiary.

Relationships with other organizations

The Kodansha company holds ownership in various broadcasting companies in Japan. It also holds shares in Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, along with 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

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. ''Gendai''s sister magazine ''Shūkan Gendai'' nonetheless published an article probing further into the staged-footage controversy that has dogged NHK.

Honors

* Japan Foundation: Japan Foundation Special Prize, 1994.

List of magazines



Manga magazines

This is a list of the manga magazines published by Kodansha according to their 2012 Company Profile (page 4).

Male-oriented manga magazines

;''Kodomo'' (children's) manga magazines *Comic BomBom (1981–2007) (discontinued) ;''Shōnen'' manga magazines *''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' (since 1959) *''Monthly Shōnen Magazine'' (since 1975) *''Shōnen Sirius'' (monthly since 2005) *''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'' (monthly since 2009) *''Shōnen Magazine R'' (monthly since 2015) *''Magazine Pocket'' (App/website with monthly manga, since 2015) ;;''Discontinued'' *''Shōnen Magazine Wonder'' (????–????) *''Monthly Manga Shōnen'' (1947–1955) *''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'' (1964–1974; after a suspension, changed name to ''Monthly Shōnen Magazine'' in 1975) *''Magazine Special'' (monthly, 1983–2017) *''Monthly Shōnen Rival'' (2008–2014) ;''Seinen'' manga magazines *''Weekly Young Magazine'' (since 1980) *''Monthly Young Magazine'' (since 2009) *''Morning'' (weekly since 1982; originally called ''Comic Morning'') *''Morning 2'' (monthly since 2006) *''Afternoon'' (monthly, since 1986) *''Good! Afternoon'' (monthly since 2012; bi-monthly from 2008 to 2012) *''Evening'' (bi-weekly since 2001) *''Young Magazine the 3rd'' (monthly since 2014) ;;''Discontinued'' *''Magazine Z'' (1999–2009) *''Young Magazine Uppers'' (1998–2004)

Female-oriented manga magazines

;''Shōjo'' manga magazines *''Nakayoshi'' (monthly since 1954) *''Bessatsu Friend'' (monthly since 1965) *''Betsufure'' (quarterly since ????) *''Dessert'' (monthly since 1996) *''Nakayoshi Lovely'' (5 issues per year, since ????) *''The Dessert'' (monthly, since ????) ;;''Discontinued'' *''Shōjo Club'' (????–????) *''Shōjo Friend'' (1962–1996) *''Mimi'' (1975–1996) *''Aria'' (monthly, 2010–2018) ;''Josei'' manga magazines *''Be Love'' (bi-weekly since 1980; originally called ''Be in Love'') *''Kiss'' (bi-weekly since 1992) *''Kiss Plus'' (bi-monthly since ????) *''ITAN'' (quarterly since 2010) *''Hatsu Kiss'' (monthly since 2014'' ;Web magazines *''Honey Milk'' (BL magazine) *''Ane Friend'' *''comic tint''

Literary magazines

* ''Gunzo'', monthly literary magazine * ''Mephisto'', tri-annual literary magazine focusing on mystery and detective stories * ''Faust''

See also

* Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial House * Kodansha Noma Memorial Museum * Noma Award * Tuttle Publishing * Vertical (company)

References



External links


Kodansha Official Japanese website



Kodansha USA Official Website

Kodansha USA Official Website
{{Authority control Category:Book publishing companies in Tokyo Category:Comic book publishing companies in Tokyo Category:Magazine publishing companies in Tokyo Category:Mass media companies based in Tokyo Category:Publishing companies established in 1909 Category:Manga distributors Category:Publishers of adult comics Category:1909 establishments in Japan Category:Japanese brands