Software:BookWalker

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Short description: Japanese e-book platform
Book☆Walker
BookWalker logo.svg
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
E-commerce
FoundedDecember 1, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-12-01)
Headquarters
Chiyoda, Tokyo
,
Japan
Area servedWorldwide
Created byKadokawa Corporation
Key peopleIchiro Hashiba (president and CEO)
IndustryPublishing, E-books
ProductsManga, Light novels, Magazines
SubsidiariesGeeXPlus
Trista
ComicWalker
Websitebookwalker.jp
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedDecember 3, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-12-03)
Current statusActive
[1]

BookWalker (ブックウォーカー), stylized as Book☆Walker, is a Japanese e-book store that sells manga, light novels, and magazines from various publishers, as well as a few published by themselves. It is based in Chiyoda, Tokyo and was created by Kadokawa Corporation. The company was founded in 2005 before launching their store in Japan in 2010 and internationally in 2014, in which year a webtoon-focused mobile application counterpart, ComicWalker, was also launched.

It has two direct subsidiaries, each with different focuses. One promotes the company's relationship with influencers and the other does reading-related software.

History

BookWalker was founded as Kadokawa Mobile Co., Ltd. on December 3, 2005 by the Kadokawa Corporation.[1] On December 1, 2009, it was renamed to Kadokawa Content Gate Co., Ltd.[1] In December 2010, the service was launched on iOS in Japan under the name Book☆Walker.[2] An Android app and a PC website followed in April 2011 and December 2011 respectively.[3][4] On July 1, 2010, the company was renamed to BookWalker Co., Ltd.[1] In September 2013, the store was expanded to feature manga as well as light novels.[5]

BookWalker Global was launched in English in November 2014, featuring manga from Viz Media and Dark Horse Comics.[6] However, due to the lack of titles it was closed temporarily, before reopening in October 2015.[7] In November 2015, the global store added thirty-five titles from Shōnen Gahōsha.[8] In July 2015, the global store started offering titles from Yen Press.[9] In December 2016, the Japanese store launched a magazine subscription service, called Magazine☆Walker.[10] In March 2019, the global store started offering titles from Kodansha USA.[11] In April 2019, the global store started offering titles from Tokyopop.[12] In May 2019, the global store started offering titles from Sol Press.[13]

In December 2019, the Japanese store launched a subscription service that offers some of the books published by the parent company for a fee.[14] On April 2, 2020, Magazine☆Walker ended service and was replaced with a new service called Book☆Walker Manga/Magazine Unlimited Reading.[15]

Publishing

BookWalker has published a few titles internationally on their own for sale on their store, which include the following:

  • The 31st Consort (manga)[16]
  • A Boy Raised By Gods Will Be The Strongest (manga)[16]
  • The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress (light novel)[17]
  • Ga-Rei (manga)[6]
  • Higehiro (light novel)[16]
  • I'm Quitting Heroing (light novel, manga)[16]
  • The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne (light novel, manga)[16]
  • The Lotus Eaters, Drunk and Sober (manga)[16]
  • Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest! (manga)[16]
  • Magical Warfare (manga)[6]
  • My Little Sister Stole My Fiancé: The Strongest Dragon Favors Me And Plans To Take Over The Kingdom? (manga)[16]
  • New Normal (manga)[18]
  • Riddle Story of Devil (manga)[6]
  • The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done! (light novel)[19]
  • Sentenced to Be a Hero (manga)[20]
  • Tokyo Ravens (manga)[6]
  • Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? (manga)[20]

Subsidiaries

GeeXPlus

Established on July 1, 2019, this subsidiary is a talent agency with the goal of "connecting Japanese brands to global influencers by providing promotion planning, production, and distribution."[1][21] As of September 3, 2023, the following talents are affiliated with GeeXPlus: The Anime Man, CDawgVA, Daidus, Emirichu, OniGiriEN, Gigguk, Ohara, Sydsnap, and TheGamingBeaver.[22]

ComicWalker

Established in March 2014, this subsidiary and mobile application, joining an existing app, Manga Box, allows free access to browse the digital manga and webtoons made available by BookWalker, in the languages of Japanese, English and Mandarin, as well as its own exclusive content.[23]

Trista

Established in September 2014, this subsidiary provides various services, such as Niconico manga and an app to help monitor time spent reading.[24] It became a subsidiary of BookWalker on April 1, 2018.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "About Us" (in ja). BookWalker. December 2005. http://bookwalker.jp/info/corporate/. 
  2. ↑ "角川グループが電子書籍を中心としたコンテンツ配信プラットフォーム事業に本格参入！「Book☆Walker」をサービス名称に、オンリーワンの次世代型電子書籍プラットフォームを目指します。" (in ja). October 26, 2010. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000104.000001227.html. 
  3. ↑ "角川グループの電子書籍配信プラットフォーム 「BOOK☆WALKER」がAndroid端末にもサービス提供開始" (in ja). April 21, 2011. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000142.000001227.html. 
  4. ↑ "人気作を次々と感謝プライスで販売！ 書店で『未来日記』を購入すると新作の電子書籍をプレゼント「BOOK☆WALKER ナンバーワン！キャンペーン」 開催中！" (in ja). December 15, 2011. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000227.000001227.html. 
  5. ↑ "ラノベだけじゃない！ BOOK☆WALKERが"フロア増床"リニューアル" (in ja). September 11, 2013. https://www.itmedia.co.jp/ebook/spv/1309/11/news013.html. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Kadokawa's English BookWalker Manga App Launches With Ga-Rei, Magical Warfare, Riddle Story of Devil, Tokyo Ravens". November 5, 2014. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-11-05/kadokawa-english-bookwalker-manga-app-launches-with-ga-rei-magical-warfare-riddle-story-of-devil-tokyo-ravens/.80671. 
  7. ↑ "Kadokawa's English BookWalker App to Relaunch With Light Novels". September 24, 2015. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-09-24/kadokawa-english-bookwalker-app-to-relaunch-with-light-novels/.93346. 
  8. ↑ "Kadokawa's English BookWalker App Adds 35 Manga Volumes from Shonengahosha". November 19, 2015. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-11-19/kadokawa-english-bookwalker-app-adds-35-manga-volumes-from-shonengahosha/.95536. 
  9. ↑ "Yen Press Licenses ERASED, Bungo Stray Dogs Manga (Update)". July 4, 2016. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-07-04/yen-press-licenses-erased-bungo-stray-dogs-manga/.103964. 
  10. ↑ "マンガ誌含む電子雑誌が月額500円（税抜）で読み放題！ 「マガジン☆WALKER」サービス開始" (in ja). December 5, 2016. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000761.000001227.html. 
  11. ↑ "BookWalker Now Offers Simulpubs From Kodansha Comics". March 4, 2019. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2019-03-04/bookwalker-now-offers-simulpubs-from-kodansha-comics/.144135. 
  12. ↑ "Tokyopop Manga Now Available on Book☆Walker Global". April 25, 2019. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2019-04-25/tokyopop-manga-now-available-on-book-walker-global/.146097. 
  13. ↑ "Sol Press Titles Now Available on Book☆Walker Global". May 24, 2019. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2019-05-24/sol-press-titles-now-available-on-book-walker-global/.147080. 
  14. ↑ "小説・ライトノベル10,000点以上が読み放題！ 「角川文庫・ラノベ読み放題」スタート！" (in ja). December 3, 2019. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000006569.000007006.html. 
  15. ↑ "BOOK☆WALKER、「少年エース」などマンガ定額読み放題開始" (in ja). April 2, 2020. https://www.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1244649.html. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 Mateo, Alex (August 7, 2021). "Kadokawa Announces Simulpub Program Starting with 7 Manga, Licenses 3 Light Novel Series". https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-08-07/kadokawa-announces-simulpub-program-starting-with-7-manga-licenses-3-light-novel-series/.175900. 
  17. ↑ "Bookwalker Global to Release The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress Light Novel". April 21, 2017. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-04-21/bookwalker-global-to-release-the-combat-baker-and-his-automaton-waitress-light-novel/.115150. 
  18. ↑ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (September 7, 2021). "Akito Aihara's New Normal Manga Gets English Release on BookWalker". https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-09-07/akito-aihara-new-normal-manga-gets-english-release-on-bookwalker/.177101. 
  19. ↑ "Book☆Walker Picks Up "The Ryuo's Work is never Done!" (Working Title) Light Novel Series for Translation". July 13, 2017. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2017-07-13/book-walker-picks-up-the-ryuo-work-is-never-done-light-novel-series-for-translation/.118772. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Cayanan, Joanna (October 23, 2023). "BookWalker Global Exclusively Releases 'Why Does Nobody Remember Me in this World?,' Sentenced to Be a Hero Manga". https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-10-23/bookwalker-global-exclusively-releases-why-does-nobody-remember-me-in-this-world-sentenced-to-be-a-/.203609. 
  21. ↑ "GeeXPlus brings anime YouTubers to Japan". February 3, 2020. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/02/03/general/geexplus-brings-anime-youtubers-japan/. 
  22. ↑ "GeeXPlus | Tokyo-based talent management and global media company.". GeeXPlus, Inc.. https://www.geexplus.co.jp/en/creators/. 
  23. ↑ Zhou, Jiajia (October 7, 2014). "[Apps ComicWalker – App Offers Latest Manga for Free in Japanese, English and Mandarin"]. The Ridge. https://theridge.sg/2014/10/07/comicwalker-app-offers-latest-manga-for-free-in-japanese-english-and-mandarin. 
  24. ↑ "Company Profile" (in ja). Trista. https://trista.jp/company/#company-profile. 

External links



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