BookWalker

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.

Book☆Walker
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
E-commerce
FoundedDecember 1, 2005 (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
URLbookwalker.jp
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedDecember 3, 2010 (2010-12-03)
Current statusActive
[1]

It has two 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:

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][20] As of September 3, 2023, the following talents are affiliated with GeeXPlus: The Anime Man, CDawgVA, Daidus, Emirichu, OniGiriEN, Gigguk, Ohara, Sydsnap, and TheGamingBeaver.[21]

Trista

Established in September 2014, this subsidiary provides various services, such as Niconico manga and an app to help monitor time spent reading.[22] It became a subsidiary of BookWalker on April 1, 2018.[1]

See also

References
  1. "About Us" (in Japanese). BookWalker. December 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  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。". PR Times (in Japanese). October 26, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  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". PR Times (in Japanese). April 21, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  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！". PR Times (in Japanese). December 15, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  5. "ラノベだけじゃない！ BOOK☆WALKERが"フロア増床"リニューアル". IT Media (in Japanese). September 11, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  6. "Kadokawa's English BookWalker Manga App Launches With Ga-Rei, Magical Warfare, Riddle Story of Devil, Tokyo Ravens". Anime News Network. November 5, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  7. "Kadokawa's English BookWalker App to Relaunch With Light Novels". Anime News Network. September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  8. "Kadokawa's English BookWalker App Adds 35 Manga Volumes from Shonengahosha". Anime News Network. November 19, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  9. "Yen Press Licenses ERASED, Bungo Stray Dogs Manga (Update)". Anime News Network. July 4, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  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". PR Times (in Japanese). December 5, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  11. "BookWalker Now Offers Simulpubs From Kodansha Comics". Anime News Network. March 4, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  12. "Tokyopop Manga Now Available on Book☆Walker Global". Anime News Network. April 25, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  13. "Sol Press Titles Now Available on Book☆Walker Global". Anime News Network. May 24, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  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！". PR Times (in Japanese). December 3, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  15. "BOOK☆WALKER、「少年エース」などマンガ定額読み放題開始". Impress Watch (in Japanese). April 2, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  16. Mateo, Alex (August 7, 2021). "Kadokawa Announces Simulpub Program Starting with 7 Manga, Licenses 3 Light Novel Series". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  17. "Bookwalker Global to Release The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress Light Novel". Anime News Network. April 21, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  18. "Book☆Walker Picks Up "The Ryuo's Work is never Done!" (Working Title) Light Novel Series for Translation". Anime News Network. July 13, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  19. Cayanan, Joanna (October 23, 2023). "BookWalker Global Exclusively Releases 'Why Does Nobody Remember Me in this World?,' Sentenced to Be a Hero Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  20. "GeeXPlus brings anime YouTubers to Japan". The Japan Times. February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  21. "GeeXPlus | Tokyo-based talent management and global media company". GeeXPlus, Inc. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  22. "Company Profile" (in Japanese). Trista. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
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