is a Japanese retail corporation that operates a chain of

used good Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

stores. Founded as a

used bookstore Used bookstores (usually called "second-hand bookshops" in Great Britain) buy and sell used books and out-of-print books. A range of titles is available in used bookstores, including in print and out-of-print books. Book collectors tend to frequent ...

specializing in

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

in 1980, Mandarake incorporated in 1987 and presently operates 11 retail locations and one

fulfillment center Fulfillment house and fulfillment center (in British English: fulfilment house and fulfilment centre) are modern terms for a packing warehouse. The terms were coined in the middle of the 1990s, and "fulfillment center" is usually used about an i ...

. The company focuses on the purchase and sale of a wide range of

collectable A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any Physical object, object regarded as being of value or interest to a collecting, collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types ...

s and ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

''-related goods, including

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

- and manga-related items,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

s, CDs,

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

figurines A figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many medi ...

, trading cards,

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

items, animation cels, and ''

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

'' (self-published works).

Overview

History

Mandarake was established by manga artist . A member of the Garo Trio (ガロ三羽烏) along with and , Furukawa and the group became known in the 1970s for their work in the alternative manga magazine ''

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

''. Initially established as a used manga store, Mandarake opened its first location at a seven-square meter storefront in the

Nakano Broadway is a shopping mall in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1966 as a luxury shopping complex, it has subsequently become a popular destination for goods aimed at ''otaku'' (hobbyists and enthusiasts, particularly those of anime and manga). Histor ...

shopping complex in

Nakano, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City. Furukawa developed a public profile and promoted Mandarake through his appearances on ', a variety series on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

in which he appeared as an

appraiser An appraiser (from Latin ''appretiare'', "to value"), is a person that develops an opinion of the market value or other value of a product, most notably real estate. The current definition of "appraiser" according to the Uniform Standards of Pro ...

for rare and vintage manga. The store was formally incorporated in February 1987, with Furukawa's father appointed as president. The company subsequently began a process of expansion, acquiring multiple stores in Nakano Broadway and widening its scope to sell a broader range of ''

''-related goods. Mandarake opened its second store in

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

in 1994, and began to steadily expand its number of stores thereafter. In 1995, the company established a publishing department that publishes ''Mandarake Manga List'', a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

catalog, and ''Mandarake Zenbu'', a premium hobby magazine for collectors. Mandarake was listed on

Mothers ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

and became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

on July 26, 2000, and moved to the Second Section of the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

on February 1, 2015. In 2001, Mandarake launched , an internet

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

channel, in partnership with

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

. The channel, which aired a variety of ''otaku''-related content, suspended service in 2008.

Operations

As of September 2018, toy sales make up the majority of Mandarake's business, composing 48 percent of all non-consolidated sales. Books compose 14 percent of all sales, ''

doujinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created by ...

'' compose 13 percent, and other publications that are not books or ''doujinshi'' compose 1 percent; the remaining 24 percent of sales are composed of miscellaneous items. Exports compose 17 percent of Mandarake's non-consolidated sales.

Locations

In Kantō, Mandarake operates six locations: four stores located in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, one store located in

Utsunomiya is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

, and a warehouse fulfillment center located in

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

. In Tokyo, Mandarake's first store in Nakano has operated continuously out of the Nakano Broadway shopping complex since 1980, which also houses the company's corporate offices. Nakano Broadway houses twenty-seven individual shops (also known as annexes or ''kan'') operating under the Mandarake brand. Each shop is focused on a single category of item, such as

costumes or ''doujinshi''. Several Mandarake annexes in Nakano Broadway were once independent stores that were acquired by the company. Additional stores in Tokyo include Mandarake Complex, an eight-story store in

Akihabara is a common name for the area around Akihabara Station in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, the area called Akihabara mainly belongs to the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts in Chiyoda. There exists an administrative district ca ...

opened in April 2008; Mandarake

, which features a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

stage; and Mandarake

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...

, a store located near

Otome Road is a name given to an area of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan that is a major shopping and cultural center for anime and manga aimed at women. The area is sometimes referred to as Fujoshi Street, referencing the name given to fans of yaoi. Geography ...

that specializes in

boys' love ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created b ...

and

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

. Outside of Tokyo, Mandarake

is located in Mageshichō, Utsunomiya, while in rural Katori,

, the company operates Mandarake Sahra, a storage and

. Mandarake Sahra is open to the public for buyback only, and not sales. In

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Mandarake

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

moved to its current location at from its former space at on March 17, 2012, tripling the size of the store. In

Tōkai Tōkai ( 東海, literally ''East Sea'') in Japanese may refer to: * Tōkai region, a subregion of Chūbu * Tōkai, Ibaraki, a village, also known as "Tokaimura" (Tokai-village) * Tōkai, Aichi, a city * Tōkai University, a private university in T ...

, Mandarake

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

moved to its current location in Naka-ku in 2007 due to insufficient floor space at its previous location; the move saw Mandarake Nagoya expand the size of the store from 266 square meters to 578 square meters. In

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

, Mandarake operates two locations located in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. Mandarake's first store in Osaka, Mandarake

Umeda is a major commercial, business, shopping and entertainment district in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, and the city's main northern railway terminus (Ōsaka Station, Umeda Station). The district's name means "plum field". History Umeda was historical ...

, is located in Doyama. Its second location in Osaka, Mandarake Grandchaos, is located in

Amerikamura Amerikamura (also America mura; アメリカ村, ''American Village'') is a sizable retail and entertainment area near Shinsaibashi in the Chūō-ku district of Osaka, Japan. It is usually referred to by locals as "Ame-mura". Amerikamura is a ...

. Two shop locations operate in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

: Mandarake Fukuoka is located in Tenjin, and Mandarake Kokura is located in

Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the north part of what used to be Kokura City before the merger of five cities to create the new city of Kitakyūshū in 1963. JR Kyūshū's Kokura Station is the main rail hub of Kitakyūshū, ...

. Mandarake also operates an online storefront in both Japanese and English. The store ships items both domestically within Japan, and internationally to 83 countries. Internationally, Mandarake operated a store in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from 1999 to 2003; initially located in Torrance, the store later relocated to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

before ultimately closing. The company also formerly operated a store in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in 2001, and a store in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. File:Mandarake Complex, Akihabara.jpg, Exterior of Mandarake Complex in

, Tokyo. File:Interiors of Mandarake, Akibahara.jpg, Shelves of ''dōjinshi'' on the fifth floor of Mandarake Complex in Akihabara, Tokyo File:Mandarake Fukuoka (cropped).jpg, Mandarake Fukuoka in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

. File:MandrakeStoreSign.jpg, Signage for Mandarake

, depicting a cartoon image of Masuzo Furukawa. File:MANDARAKE-Osu-Nagoya.jpg, Mandarake Nagoya in

Impact

Mandarake is the largest secondhand

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

retailer in the world, with the company's financial success cited by Philomena Keet in ''Tokyo Fashion City'' as "a testament to the fervor of Japanese fanatics, the dedication of Japanese collectors, and the richness of Japan's material culture." The company sells and purchases roughly ten thousand items per day, and has a

point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

system that includes over 20 million items. Its original pricing and appraisal operations are recognized as having a major impact on the secondhand book market. The company maintains a policy of purchasing items at roughly half the cost it plans to resell the item, which was noted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as bringing transparency to the often opaque appraisal market. The company actively seeks foreign customers, offering an English-language online store and sales staff fluent in foreign languages. The company also promotes itself as a tourist attraction in Japan, and is marketed as a major destination for foreign ''otaku''.

Notable incidents

In 2003, Mandarake was accused of selling improperly-acquired manuscripts by

Kenshi Hirokane is a Japanese manga artist from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in law, then worked for Matsushita Electric for four years, before making his manga debut in 1974 with ''Kaze Kaoru''."Manga Snapshot: Big Comic ...

and Yayoi Watanabe. The items in question were sold to Mandarake by Hirokane and Watanabe's publisher Sakura Comics in an unsuccessful attempt by the publisher to stave off bankruptcy, rather than returned to the artists per their publishing agreements. Mandarake contended that it had no way of knowing that Sakura Publishing was not permitted to sell the manuscripts; the manuscripts were ultimately returned to the artists in a subsequent lawsuit. On November 16, 2012, a former Mandarake employee petitioned the

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.Supreme Court of Japan websit東京地方裁判所の紹介Retrieved on August 7, 2011 See also *Judicial system of Japan The judiciary (also known as the judicial sys ...

for the payment of unpaid

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

from the company, claiming that he was not compensated for time spent at work before and after store opening hours. The plaintiff sought ¥2,292,246 in unpaid wages and additional damages of ¥2,194,046. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and ordered Mandarake to pay ¥2,233,606 in unpaid wages and additional damages of ¥2,108,165. In 2016, the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Metro ...

cited Mandarake under the for insufficiently verifying the identities of individuals who purchased items from Mandarake in

online auctions An online auction (also electronic auction, e-auction, virtual auction, or eAuction) is an auction held over the internet and accessed by internet connected devices. Similar to in-person auctions, online auctions come in a variety of types, with d ...

. Under that law, individuals purchasing secondhand goods must identify themselves with photo identification, in order for police to track the movement of secondhand goods that may have been stolen. The

consequently suspended Mandarake Complex's online sales license for one month, and fined the company ¥300,000. In 2018, an original illustration from ''

Ai to Makoto is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu. It was adapted into a live-action television series in 1974 and into four live-action films in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2012. TV series Cast * Yūsuke ...

'', one of a series of fifteen believed lost in 1974, was listed for sale in an online auction by Mandarake. ''Ai to Makoto'' publisher

Kodansha 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'' an ...

requested that the illustration be returned to the company, and issued a statement asking the public to not bid in the auction. The illustration ultimately sold at auction to a private buyer for ¥4 million.

2014 shoplifting incident

On August 4, 2014, a vintage ''

Tetsujin 28-go , known as simply ''Tetsujin 28'' in international releases, is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created ''Giant Robo''. The series centers on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who c ...

tin toy ''Tin Toy'' is a 1988 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The short film, which runs five minutes, stars Tinny, a tin one-man band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, an infant. The third sho ...

worth ¥250,000 was shoplifted from Mandarake Nakano. Mandarake posted an image of the shoplifter taken from security camera footage on their website with the subject's face obscured using mosaic censorship, alongside a statement that the image would be posted with the pixelation removed if the item was not returned within a week. The

Tokyo Metropolitan Police The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Metro ...

requested that Mandarake not publish the uncensored image; though Mandarake initially stated that it would not comply with the request, the company ultimately elected not to publish the uncensored image. The incident prompted a public debate over the ethics of Mandarake's actions, and whether they constituted an illegal threat of

intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

. In an interview with ''

Weekly Toyo Keizai ''Weekly Toyo Keizai'' ( is a weekly business and finance magazine published in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1895 it is one of the earliest business publications in the country. History and profile The magazine was established in 1895 under the name ...

'', Mandarake president Masuzo Furukawa stated that decision to post the image was motivated by a desire to have the item returned, and to deter future shoplifters.

Shoko Nakagawa is a Japanese media personality, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and singer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of ''Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer of the opening theme from the anime ''Gurren Lagann'' ...

was among the public figures who voiced support for Mandarake's actions. On August 19, 2014, the shoplifter was identified as Kazutoshi Iwama and arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police after he attempted to sell the toy to another secondhand store. Iwama stated that he was unaware that Mandarake posted his image until after he was arrested. He was later sentenced in court to one year of imprisonment and three years of probation.

References

External links

Mandarake official website
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1980 Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Manga industry Comics retailers Comics-related organizations Retail companies based in Tokyo Retail companies established in 1980