The Japan Times Online is reporting that Kodansha International will close their doors this April. Kodansha president Koji Hirota declined to give details, but confirmed that the company is indeed closing the division. While I can’t say I blame the company, the decision does sadden me a bit.
To a manga fan, this probably won’t affect things much. It appears that Kodansha International’s exit from the market is primarily focused on their main print division. No reports are stating that Kodansha USA or the recently-acquired Vertical will be affected by the change. So, for the most part, the licenses Kodansha USA picked up from Del Rey aren’t going away, nor is Vertical’s lineup. It appears that the only titles that would truly be lost by the company’s closure are Tsunetomo Yamamoto’s Hagakure, Fred Schodt’s Manga! Manga!, and a trio of How to Draw Manga books.
Instead, this seems to be focusing on Kodansha’s main print line. Kodansha International is the name of a company founded by Kodansha to handle trade paperback translations, and magazine distributions. The company has had a presence in the west for over four decades. The company published numerous influential works from Japanese greats such as Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase and Kenji Miyazawa’s The Restaurant of Many Orders and Other Stories. On top of literature, they also released several general interest titles, that range from educational tomes to cookbooks and children’s books.
To see their presence fade in the marketplace will be sad, indeed. Kodansha International has always been a constant for fans in the western market. They’ve been vital in helping to expose Japanese culture to a broader audience. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to express some appreciation for their role over the past forty-seven years. Things will be very different in the greater marketplace Kodansha’s presence, and I hope that they make a return one day in the future.
Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.
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Held several times a year at Big Sight, with satellite events in different prefectures, Comitia is another fascinating look at doujinshi culture in Japan.
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