Shogakukan

Shogakukan Inc.
Native name
株式会社小学館
Kabushiki-gaisha Shōgakukan
Company typePrivate
IndustryPublishing
FoundedAugust 8, 1922 (1922-08-08)
FounderTakeo Ōga
HeadquartersKanda,
Chiyoda, Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Nobuhiro Oga[1]
(president and CEO)
ProductsMagazines, comics, picture books, light novels, educational books, reference books, other books
Revenue108,471,000,000 yen (2023) 
OwnerHitotsubashi Group (Ōga family)
Number of employees
707 (2024)
Subsidiaries
  • Shogakukan Publishing Service
  • Shorinsha
  • Shogakukan Creative
  • NetAdvance
  • Viz Media
Websitewww.shogakukan.co.jp

Shogakukan Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社小学館, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Shōgakukan; often pronounced as Shōgakkan[2] due to devoicing[3]) is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan.[4]

Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group,[5] one of the largest publishing groups in Japan and the world. Shogakukan is headquartered in the Shogakukan Building in Hitotsubashi, part of Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, near the Jimbocho book district. The corporation also has the other two companies located in the same ward.

International operations

In the United States

Shogakukan, along with Shueisha, owns Viz Media,[6] which publishes manga from both companies in the United States.

Shogakukan's licensing arm in North America was ShoPro Entertainment; it was merged into Viz Media in 2005.[7]

Shogakukan's production arm is Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (previously Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.)

In March 2010 it was announced that Shogakukan would partner with the American comics publisher Fantagraphics to issue a line of manga to be edited by Rachel Thorn.[8]

In Europe

In Europe, manga from Shōgakukan and Shūeisha are published by local publishers such as Pika Édition, Ki-oon, Kana and Kazé for the French market, and Kazé, Carlsen, Egmont and Tokyopop for the German market. Shogakukan, Shueisha and ShoPro have established a joint venture named Viz Media Europe.[9] Viz Media Europe bought in 2009 the French Kazé Group whose activities are mainly publishing manga and home video for the French and German market.[10]

In Southeast Asia

The company has a wholly owned subsidiary, Shogakukan Asia, with headquarter in Singapore. Besides producing popular titles in English such as Detective Conan, Pokémon and Future Card Buddyfight, the company also partners with local creators such as Johnny Lau to publish comic series for distribution in Southeast Asia.[11]

New Manga Awards

Shogakukan has awards for amateur manga artists who want to become professional. It allows people to either send in their manga by mail or bring it in to an editor.

Controversies

Genghis Khan

On February 15, 2018, CoroCoro Comic ("Gekkan Corocoro Comic"), a children's magazine published by Shogakukan, had in its March issue a cartoon making fun of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. The comic showed a mischievous boy doodling juvenile things on pictures of famous people, such as a dog's face on a picture of Albert Einstein.[12] Genghis Khan was depicted with a crude rendering of male genitalia on his forehead.[13][14] After some backlash, Shogakukan initially offered an apology addressed to the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo on February 23, but that failed to mollify Mongolian expats in Japan, who regard Genghis Khan as a national hero.[13]

On February 26, Mongolians and citizens of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region resident in Japan sent a formal letter of protest to Shogakukan, while some 90 demonstrators protested in front of company headquarters.[13] Major bookselling chains Kinokuniya, Miraiya and Kumazawa pulled the publication off shelves after the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo filed an official complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[12] In March 2018, Shogakukan issued another public apology, announced a national recall of the magazine and offered a refund to magazine patrons.[15] CoroCoro Comic's website also published an apology by Asumi Yoshino, author of the serialized manga Yarisugi!!! Itazura-kun which contained the controversial image.[16]

Shōichi Yamamoto

On February 20, 2026, a Sapporo District Court judge found Shōichi Yamamoto liable for sexually abusing a minor. According to Ashita no Keizai Shimbun, the victim was 15 years old and Yamamoto was her high school teacher when he intimately touched her and kissed her in a car. Ashita no Keizai Shimbun also reported that he raped her a year later; the lawsuit alleged that Yamamoto forced the victim to eat her own excrement and took pictures of her with "slave" written on her body as "punishment".[17] The lawsuit was filed years earlier after a failed mediation attempt by Shogakukan. In 2020, Shogakukan suspended Yamamoto's series Daten Sakusen citing his "poor health", before they announced that the manga was ending publication in 2022.[17] Later that same year, editors at Shogakukan conspired to have Yamamoto write Jojin Kamen under the pen name "Hajime Ichiro". In 2026, when the civil trial publicly disclosed the verdict, MangaONE, the platform where Yamamoto's works were published, released a public statement that they would be suspending Jojin Kamen, wherein they also revealed that the author was Yamamoto. Shogakukan also released a separate statement, which apologized for the affair and promised an investigative committee to look into the incident would be formed.[17][18]

Eri Tsuruyoshi, the illustrator of Jojin Kamen, posted on social media that they did not know about Yamamoto's legal case and had only met him once, with all communication coming through their editor. They also expressed hope that the victim would recover and apologized to readers.[17] In response to the controversy, several manga artists asked for their works to be removed from MangaONE and for readers to read their works on other platforms.[17] The Japan Cartoonists Association called for an investigation and steps be taken to prevent this situation from happening again.[19] Ryuhei Tamura (Cosmos), Haro Aso (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead), Kaeru Mizuho (Magical Girl Dandelion), and Minoru Takeyoshi (Shokubutsu Byōrigaku wa Asu no Kimi o Negau) asked that their respective series' publication on MangaONE be halted.[17][20][21] One-Punch Man creator One stated that he would not work with Shogakukan again if the matter is not resolved.[20] Frieren, Mobile Police Patlabor, Major, Mogura no Uta, Aoi Honō, Moeyo Pen, and works by Rumiko Takahashi were removed from the MangaONE service.[21][22] The award ceremony for the 71st Shogakukan Manga Award, which was originally scheduled to be held on March 3, was postponed.[23]

On March 2, 2026, Shogakukan discovered that MangaONE published Seisō no Shinri-shi, a manga written by Act-Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki under the pen name "Miki Yatsunami", who had been arrested and indicted on the charge of committing a coerced indecent act on a female middle school student in 2020.[24]

List of magazines published

Manga magazines

Male oriented manga magazines

Children's manga magazines

  • CoroCoro Comic (since 1977)
  • Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic (since 1981)
  • CoroCoro Ichiban! (since 2005)

Shōnen manga magazines

Seinen manga magazines

Female oriented manga magazines

Children's manga magazines

Shōjo manga magazines

Josei manga magazines

Fashion magazines

Educational magazines

  • Shogaku Ichinensei (First Grade)
  • Shogaku Ninensei (Second Grade) (discontinued in 2016)
  • Shogaku Sannensei (Third Grade) (discontinued in 2012)
  • Shogaku Yonnensei (Fourth Grade) (discontinued in 2012)
  • Shogaku Gonensei (Fifth Grade) (discontinued in 2010)
  • Shogaku Rokunensei (Sixth Grade) (discontinued in 2010)
  • Shogaku Hachinensei (Eighth Grade) (since 2017, replacing Second to Sixth Grade magazines)

News magazines

  • Weekly Post (週刊ポスト)
  • SAPIO (discontinued in 2019)
  • Josei Seven (女性セブン)

Anime

Shogakukan produces (or makes part of the production of) anime based on their manga, mostly through their subsidiary Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.

Imprints

Tentomushi Comics

Tentōmusi Comics (Japanese: てんとう虫コミックス【てんとうむしコミックス】, Hepburn: Tentōmushi Komikkusu), abbreviated TC, is the imprint used for tankōbon editions of manga series serialized in Monthly CoroCoro Comic and Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic magazines.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Company Profile". Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  2. ^ Example: "Shōgakkan". Library of Congress Authorities. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "Devoiced Vowels". TUFS Language Modules – Japanese. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022.
  4. ^ "Company Overview of SHOGAKUKAN". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "Global Publishing Leaders 2015: Shogakukan". PWxyz. Publishers Weekly. June 26, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  6. ^ Alverson, Brigid (May 13, 2016). "Hachette and Kadokawa Partner on Manga and Graphic Novels". PWxyz. Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  7. ^ "ShoPro Entertainment Inc. and VIZ, LLC to Merge". Anime News Network. January 25, 2005. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  8. ^ Deppey, Dirk (March 8, 2010). "Journalista reputation-destroying extra: Four years' work". Journalista!. The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  9. ^ "Vizmedia Europe rachète le groupe Kazé". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  10. ^ "Organisation du groupe Vizmedia Europe". Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  11. ^ "Education through entertainment Archived June 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine" (). Singapore Economic Development Board. January 15, 2014. Retrieved on June 2, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Genghis Khan-insulting manga pulled from major book stores amid further Mongolian protests". SoraNews24. Socio Corporation. March 2018. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "Mongolians irate over manga showing penis on Genghis Khan". The Asahi Shimbun Company. The Asahi Shimbun. February 28, 2018. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Coro Coro Comics Apologizes for Manga's Depiction of Genghis Khan". Anime News Network. February 25, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Publisher Shogakukan withdraws and apologizes for comic that mocks Genghis Khan". The Japan Times. Kyodo. March 6, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Shiohara, Ken (March 7, 2018). "Publisher recalls manga magazine that infuriated Mongolians". The Asahi Shimbun Company. The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 28, 2026). "Shogakukan Apologizes for Releasing New Manga by Creator Convicted of Sex Crime Against Minor". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 28, 2026. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  18. ^ "Japan's manga industry faces a '#MeToo moment' after Shogakukan scandal". South China Morning Post. March 6, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  19. ^ 小学館「マンガワン」編集者の性加害示談関与「業界の信頼に関わる問題」漫画家協会が声明. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). February 28, 2026. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  20. ^ a b Valentine, Evan (February 28, 2026). "Manga Publisher Cancels Big Series Following Reveal of Author's Controversial Past". ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  21. ^ a b 小学館マンガワン問題　同アプリでの作品配信停止報告の漫画家相次ぐ「許せない事件」　海外も注目. Sports Nippon (in Japanese). March 1, 2026. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  22. ^ 小学館「マンガワン」、「フリーレン」「めぞん一刻」など読めない状態に　返金は「検討中」【追記あり】. ITmedia (in Japanese). March 2, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  23. ^ 「小学館漫画賞」延期　漫画家の性加害問題受け小学館が発表. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). March 1, 2026. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  24. ^ Joanna, Cayanan (March 2, 2026). "Shogakukan Discloses It Hired act-age Writer Tatsuya Matsuki to Pen New Manga on Manga One". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  25. ^ "Rinka". manga-news.com (in French). Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  26. ^ "てんとう虫コミックス 藤子･Ｆ･不二雄シリーズ 公式サイト｜小学館". Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
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