Kawade Shobō Shinsha

Kawade Shobō Shinsha., Ltd. (株式会社河出書房新社, Kabushiki Kaisha Kawade Shobō Shinsha), formerly Kawade Shobō (河出書房), is a publisher founded in 1886 in Japan and headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo.[1] It publishes the magazine Bungei and administers the Bungei Prize.

Kawade Shobō Shinsha
Native name
Kabushiki Kaisha Kawade Shobō Shinsha (株式会社河出書房新社)
TypeKK
IndustryPublishing
GenreBooks, magazines
Founded1886 (1886)
FounderSeiichirō Kawade
Headquarters2-32-2 Sendagaya, Shibuya,
Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
Yū Onodera (Representative Director & CEO)
Number of employees
74 (1 April 2020)
Websitewww.kawade.co.jp

History

Kawade Shobō Shinsha traces its history to 1886 when a new branch of the Seibidō (成美堂) bookstore in Gifu Prefecture was opened by Seiichirō Kawade (1857–1936) in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. In 1888, it became independent and published primarily textbooks and reference books in the fields of mathematics, physics, geography and agriculture.[1]

In 1933, it was established as a literary publisher and renamed to Kawade Shobō (河出書房) by Seiichirō's son-in-law Takao Kawade (1901–1965), who served as its second president.[2][3] It primarily published literary and arts books, as well as books on philosophy and various schools of thought.[2] In 1944, the publishing house acquired the literary magazine Bungei from Kaizōsha (改造社). In 1945, Kawade Shobō was damaged during the Bombing of Tokyo and moved to Kanda-Ogawamachi in Chiyoda, Tokyo.[1] In July 1949, Kawade Shobō published Yukio Mishima's breakout second novel Confessions of a Mask.[4][5] In 1951, Kawade Shobō published the major best-selling nonfiction book by Shintarō Ryū, titled Mono no Mikata ni Tsuite (ものの見方について).[6]

In 1957, Kawade Shobō went bankrupt.[2] Publication of Bungei was suspended. A new company named Kawade Shobō Shinsha was established on 2 May 1957.[1] In 1962, Kawade Shobō Shinsha relaunched the Bungei magazine and established the Bungei Prize, which is awarded to new authors.[1] It was first awarded to Kazumi Takahashi's 1962 novel Vessel of Sorrow .[7] Many of the Prize's winners became major bestsellers, including Yasuo Tanaka's 1981 novel Somehow, Crystal,[8] and Akemi Hotta's 1981 novel 1980 Aiko 16-sai .[9] The Bungei Prize has produced many successful writers, including Amy Yamada, Mayumi Nagano, Tomoyuki Hoshino, Maki Kashimada, Kou Nakamura, Risa Wataya, Keisuke Hada, Gen Shiraiwa, Nao-Cola Yamazaki, Nanae Aoyama and Ken'ichirō Isozaki.[10]

In 1965, Takao Kawade died[11] and his son Tomohisa Kawade became the company's third president.[2][12] In 1968, the company went bankrupt once again. Tomohisa applied for the Corporate Reorganization Law and the company was rebuilt. Takayuki Nakajima took over the company's leadership.[2][13] In 1977, the company moved to Sumiyoshi-chō, Shinjuku and Masaru Shimizu assumed leadership of the company. In 1979, it moved Sendagaya, Shibuya.[1]

In 1983, Kawade Shobō Shinsha published Jūrō Kara's novel Sagawa-kun Kara no Tegami, which was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize[14] and became a major bestseller and sensation in Japan.[15] In 1987, Kawade Shobō Shinsha published Machi Tawara's debut collection of tanka poems, Salad Anniversary . It also published Tawara's collections Kaze no Tenohira (1991) and Chocolate Revolution (1997).[16] Salad Anniversary was a major bestseller, selling 2.8 million copies.[17] In the 1990s, Masaya Nakahara[18] and Shū Fujisawa[19] and other writers published their debut works through Kawade Shobō Shinsha. At the end of the 1990s, there was a boom of young writers centered around Bungei. In 1998, Kawade Shobō Shinsha coined the term J-bungaku, a genre of easily consumable contemporary Japanese literature for the average young city dweller.[20][21]

In 2002, Shigeo Wakamori became president of Kawade Shobō Shinsha.

In January 2004, Risa Wataya was awarded the 130th Akutagawa Prize for her novel I Want to Kick You in the Back (蹴りたい背中, Keritai Senaka). At age 19, she became the award's youngest winner.[22] The novel was published in hardcover by Kawade Shobō Shinsha in August 2003. Within two months of winning the Akutagawa Prize, the novel sold over one million copies.[23][24]

In 2011, Yū Onodera was appointed president of Kawade Shobō Shinsha.[25]

In 2014, four young employees of Kawade Shobō Shinsha voiced concerns over the significant increase in sales of books and magazines in Japan which feature an Anti-Chinese sentiment and Anti-Korean sentiment. Kawade Shobō Shinsha organized an in-store fair to sell objective publications about Japanese social issues, titled Ima, Kono Kuni o Kangaeru〜 "Iya" de mo Naku "Hō" de mo Naku (今、この国を考える〜「嫌」でもなく「呆」でもなく). The selection was conducted in collaboration with writers and critics, including Eiji Oguma, Toshiki Okada, Kazuhiro Soda, Kyoko Nakajima, Keiichiro Hirano, Tomoyuki Hoshino and Tatsuya Mori. A total of 18 books were selected, including 6 books published by Kawade Shobō Shinsha and 12 books published by other companies. This included books focused on China and South Korea, but also books about consumption tax, public assistance, modern history, constitutional law, and religion. Over 100 bookstores in Japan participated in the fair.[26][27]

Publications

Magazine

Book series

References
  1. "会社案内 概要". kawade.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. "成美堂・河出書房　秘蔵図書館". www.kawade-shobo.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  3. "河出書房について". www.kawade-shobo.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  4. 佐藤秀明; 井上隆史; 山中剛史 (August 2005). 決定版 三島由紀夫全集42巻 年譜・書誌 (in Japanese). Shinchosha. pp. 391–393. ISBN 978-4-10-642582-0.
  5. 佐藤秀明; 井上隆史; 山中剛史 (August 2005). 決定版 三島由紀夫全集42巻 年譜・書誌 (in Japanese). Shinchosha. pp. 540–561. ISBN 978-4-10-642582-0.
  6. 坪田護 (1996). 「戦後五十年」教育・出版・世相: 教育事象・出版物から時代を読む (in Japanese). Kindai Bungeisha. ISBN 978-4-7733-5115-6.
  7. 朝日ジャーナル (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. November 1962. p. 81.
  8. 吉田司 (November 2005). 王道楽土の戦争戦後60年篇 (in Japanese). Nippon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai. p. 183. ISBN 978-4-14-091046-7.
  9. 日本近代文学会東海支部 (June 2009). 〈東海〉を読む: 近代空間(トポス)と文学 (in Japanese). Fūbaisha. p. 296. ISBN 978-4-8331-2070-8.
  10. "文藝賞" (in Japanese). Kawade Shobō Shinsha. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  11. 日外アソシエーツ (1995). 伝記・評伝全情報 90/94 日本・東洋編 (in Japanese). Nichigai Associates. ISBN 978-4-8169-1290-0.
  12. Yūsaku Kamekura (1983). 亀倉雄策のデザイン (in Japanese). Rikuyōsha. ISBN 978-4-89737-029-3.
  13. "(株)岩波書店『岩波書店八十年』(1996.12)". shashi.shibusawa.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  14. 溝川徳二 (November 1999). 芥川・直木賞名鑑: 全受賞者 (in Japanese). 名鑑社. p. 287. ISBN 978-4-944221-00-4.
  15. 鶴田欣也 (May 1999). 越境者が読んだ近代日本文学: 境界をつくるもの、こわすもの (in Japanese). Shin-yo-sha. p. 34. ISBN 978-4-7885-0670-1.
  16. 文藝 (in Japanese). Kawade Shobō Shinsha. 2004.
  17. リンクアップ (November 2009). この日何の日: 1億人のための366日使える話のネタ本 (in Japanese). Shuwa System. p. 108. ISBN 978-4-7980-2410-3.
  18. 週刊金曜日 (in Japanese). 株式会社金曜日. 2009. p. 42.
  19. 國文學: 解釈と敎材の硏究 (in Japanese). Gakutōsha. 1999.
  20. Fukushima, Yoshiko (2003). "Japanese Literature, or J-Literature in the 1990's". World Literature Today. pp. 40–44.
  21. "J-Bungaku: '90-nendai bungaku mappu". Bungei Bessatsu (in Japanese) (August ed.). Tokyo: Kawade Shobō Shinsha. 1998.
  22. "Women become youngest recipients of literary award". The Japan Times. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  23. "「蹴りたい背中」１００万部に　芥川賞受賞後に急増". asahi.com (in Japanese). 17 March 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  24. Maloney, Iain (8 March 2015). "The messy, lonesome worlds of Risa Wataya". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  25. "斬新で魅力的なら読者に届く。本の世界の奥深さを伝える". adv.asahi.com (in Japanese). 28 November 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  26. "Ｌｉｓｔｅｎｉｎｇ:＜時流・底流＞売れる「嫌韓嫌中」本　若手出版人が「この国考えて」". mainichi.jp (in Japanese). 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  27. Morihara, Ryusuke (8 July 2014). "Publishers cash in on anti-China, anti-S. Korea sentiment". The Japan Times. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
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