Kadokawa Shoten to be Divided, New Magazine Subsidiary Created

Kadokawa Group Holdings has announced its plan to divide Kadokawa Shoten into three separate companies next January.

The three new companies are:

(New) Kadokawa Shoten - The "new" Kadokawa Shoten will take over the publishing and management of "cultural contents" from the "Old" Kadokawa Shoten.
Kadokawa Magazines - Kadokawa Magazines will handle magazine publishing.
Kadokawa Group Publishing - Kadokawa Group Publishing will become the support and supply side of publishing.

Kadokawa Herald Pictures will take over the management of the old Kadokawa's affiliate film business, and Kadokawa Group Holdings will take over Kadokawa's management section. According to Kadokawa Group Holdings, the split is a part of Kadokawa's strategy to specialize its publishing business.

The "new" Kadokawa Shoten will be specialized as a publisher of "cultural contents" such as novels, manga, image software, books and magazines. The "new" Kadokawa Shoten will also manage anime magazines and light novels as part of its "cultural contents" business.

Kadokawa Magazines will become a subsidiary of the Kadokawa Magazine Group, and will handle the publication of magazines like "CD Data," "DVD Data," and "Hana Jikan." The Kadokawa Magazine Group will also contain Kadokawa SS Communications, which originated from the Saison Group and handles the publication of magazines like "Lettuce Club" and "Money Plus."

Kadokawa Group Holding's subsidiary companies MediaWorks and Fujimi Shobo will remain unchanged. Kadokawa Herald Pictures, which will be in charge of Kadokawa Group's film business, may include Asmic Ace Entertainment along with other firms.

A Brief History of Kadokawa

Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. is originally a subsidiary company of Kadokawa Holdings. It was founded in 1945 by Genyoshi Kadokawa. The publishing company originally focused on publishing literary works.

Around 1970, Kadokawa's new president Haruki Kadokawa expanded the company and brought it to its peak. After 1970, Kadokawa also expanded into the film business.

In 1992 Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, younger brother of Haruki Kadokawa and then vice president of Kadokawa, resigned and went on to found MediaWorks Inc.

In 1993 Haruki Kadokawa resigned from Kadokawa after being arrested for charges of possessing narcotics and against customs laws, after this incident Tsuguhiko Kadokawa returned to take his elder brother's place, and in doing so brought MediaWorks under Kadokawa's wing.

Some of the major subsidiary companies under Kadokawa Holdings:

- Kadokawa Shoten
- Kadokawa Herald Pictures
- Kadokawa SS Communications (used to be SS Communications)
- Enterbrain
- Fujimi Shobo
- MediaWorks
- United Cinemas Co.
- ASCII Corporation