Kodansha Discusses its Domestic Plans

Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher, will launch its American publishing subsidiary this month. Random House will distribute new English language editions of Akira & Ghost in the Shell published by New York City based Kodansha USA. Random House is also the parent company of Del Rey, which publishes a variety of manga titles licensed from Kodansha.

Kodansha vice-president Yoshio Irie has stated that Kodansha USA will initially concentrate on publishing English editions of established Kodansha manga titles, but does anticipate eventually expanding into acquiring & publishing new, original content. Furthermore, Irie said, “Kodansha Comics doesn’t aim to be the exclusive label for titles from Kodansha.” Tokyopop is no longer distributing Kodansha properties, but Del Rey and Dark Horse continue to publish titles licensed from Kodansha.

Source: Publishers Weekly