Kodansha

In 1909, Seiji Noma spun off a small publishing venture from the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai, a Tokyo-based oratorical society. Its first product was the literary magazine Yūben. The name Kodansha came two years later, borrowed from a magazine called Kōdan Club, and the company has carried it ever since. Noma's founding motto was concise: "Omoshirokute tame ni naru", "To be interesting and beneficial." That phrase still appears in the publisher's internal documents today.

Kodansha grew into Japan's largest publisher by dominating manga magazines. Titles like Weekly Shōnen Magazine, launched in 1959, serialized series that became cultural juggernauts: Akira, Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon. The company also published Haruki Murakami's early novels and maintains a broad literary catalog. At its peak in the 1990s, yearly revenue topped 200 billion yen. The Japanese recession and digital disruption cut that nearly in half, but the company has stabilized through overseas expansion and a major brand overhaul.

Kodansha remains privately held by the Noma family and their cultural foundation. The current president, Yoshinobu Noma, a descendant of the founder, led the company through its first holistic rebrand in 2021. Working with the design agency Gretel over 18 months, Kodansha launched a new identity built around the concept of "intersection", between creators and fans, tradition and innovation. The logo, inspired by a traditional Japanese hanko seal, uses negative space as "windows to new worlds." The brand film, directed by Juan Cabral, accompanied a global campaign that included a custom-type kanji business name and a digital brand hub.

International operations have expanded steadily. Kodansha USA Publishing opened in 2008, followed by Kodansha Beijing Culture in 2005. The company holds roughly 20 percent of the TBS Group's stock and owns the Otowa Group, which includes King Records and Kobunsha. It publishes the daily tabloid Nikkan Gendai and is an official sponsor of Tokyo Disneyland. In 2025, a campaign called "Where Manga Meets" generated over 350 million impressions, with an engagement rate 153 percent above industry standards. Website traffic included 57 percent new fans. [edit]