is a Japanese publishing company. With a number of controversial books that disturbed the Japanese society and its erotic manga comics, the company has established itself like a source of provocative "subculture" items.

History

Ohta Publishing was created in 1985, when it separated from the publishing department of

Ohta Production , sometimes shortened to Ohta Pro, is a Japanese talent agency headquartered in Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was founded in 1963 and focuses on talent management for actors, athletes, comedians and '. The agency have produced numerous televisio ...

, a talent agency specializing in stand-up comedians. (Founded as a , it has, , been converted to a

kabushiki gaisha A or ''kabushiki kaisha'', commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK, is a type of defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", " joint-stock company" or "stock corporation". The term ''kabushiki gaisha'' ...

.) Initially, from an outside perspective, Ohta Publishing did not seem like a serious company but rather a sort of toy company of

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

(who was an Ohta Production artist back then). It released books that were of interest to Kitano himself. In 1989, Ohta published the famous book ''The Age of M'' about serial child murderer

Tsutomu Miyazaki was a Japanese serial killer who murdered four young girls in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture between August 1988 and June 1989. He abducted and killed the girls, aged from 4 to 7, in his car before dismembering them and molesting their corpses. ...

and started establishing itself like a source of provocative "subculture" items. Around the same time, the bi-monthly magazine '' QuickJapan'' was founded. In 1993 Ohta released the book '' The Complete Manual of Suicide'' and in 1999 '' Battle Royale'', which shook Japanese society. At the end of the 1990s, the company also started working with manga artist Naoki Yamamoto, dubbed the master of erotics, and founded the manga magazine ''Manga Erotics''. Its successor ''

Manga Erotics F was a bimonthly manga magazine by Ohta Publishing is a Japanese publishing company. With a number of controversial books that disturbed the Japanese society and its erotic manga comics, the company has established itself like a source of provoc ...

'' now accounts for a large percentage of all company's manga sales.

Prominent titles

The company is best known for having published books like ''The Age of M'' (1989), '' The Complete Manual of Suicide'' (1993) and '' Battle Royale'' (1999), other books including ''

The Tatami Galaxy is a 2004 Japanese varsity novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and published by Ohta Publishing. Its first-person narrator is an unnamed upperclassman at Kyoto University reminiscing on the misadventures of his previous years of campus lif ...

'' and '' Eien no Zero'', and numerous manga comics. It also publishes the manga magazine ''Manga Erotics F'' and the magazine ''QuickJapan''. Some other recent manga titles include ''

Miyamoto kara Kimi e is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideki Arai. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Morning'' from 1990 to 1994, with its chapters collected in 12 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was adapted into tele ...

'' and ''Kami no Kodomo''.

List of periodic and serial publications

Print magazines

* '' QuickJapan''^{( ja)} * ''

'' * ''Kettle''^{( ja)} * *

Web magazines

Manga

* '' Astro Kyūdan'' * '' Bradherley no Basha'' * '' La Croisade des Innocents'' * '' The Devil is So Cute'' * '' Don't Disturb Me and Him, Please'' * '' Don't Say Anymore, Darling'' * ''Drops'' * '' Gente - Ristorante no Hitobito'' * '' A Girl on the Shore'' * '' Hallucination from the Womb'' * '' Keep on Vibrating'' * '' Kokumin Quiz'' * ''

Lychee Light Club , also commonly known as ''Litchi Hikari Club'', is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Usamaru Furuya and based on a play with the same name. It was serialized in Ohta Publishing's '' Manga Erotics F'' magazine between ...

'' * '' Mariko Parade'' * '' Mikai no Hoshi'' * '' Nijigahara Holograph'' * '' Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy!'' * ''Palepoli'' * '' Pico-Pico Boy'' * '' Pico-Pico Boy Turbo'' * ''Punctures'' * ''

Ristorante Paradiso , also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsume Ono, detailing the daily lives of the staff of a restaurant in Rome. The first iteration of the series was serialized in Ohta Publishing's ''Manga Erotics F'' man ...

'' * '' Romance of an Ancient Dreaming City'' * '' Sennen Gahō'' * ''Sweet Blue Flowers'' * '' The Tales of the Town Uroshima'' * '' Tora & Ken's Happy Lovely Life!'' * '' Tropical Citron - Psychedelic Witch Story'' * '' Utsubora - A Story of a Novelist'' * '' Velveteen & Mandala'' * '' Watching Fuckin' TV All Time Makes a Fool'' * '' Yukiko's Spinach''

References

External links

* {{Authority control Amusement companies of Japan Publishing companies established in 1985 Magazine publishing companies of Japan Manga distributors Japanese companies established in 1985 Book publishing companies of Japan