About:
Headquartered in Tokyo, Shueisha is the largest manga publisher in the world, with an alleged market share in Japan of 30%. It belongs to the Hitotsubashi Group, a “keiretsu,” or holding structure, that owns the Shogakukan, Shueisha and Hakusensha publishing groups.
The company was founded in 1926 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year Shueisha became a separate, independent company, two companies have their headquarters next to each other.
Shueisha's Jump Comics division is a large publisher of Manga. Shueisha later founded Hakusensha, which has gone on to become another of Japan's most successful publishers. Shueisha operates many imprints, including Homesha.
Many titles published in its Weekly Shonen Jump have enjoyed circulation of over 1 million copies in the graphic novel form. Dragon Ball has sold over 150 million copies overall, and One Piece has sold over 140 million, according to company information from VIZ Media.
Shueisha, together with Shogakukan, owns Viz Media, one of the major publishers of manga in the United States.
Since 1967, Shogakukan, together with Shueisha and Hakusensha, operates ShoPro to distribute, license and merchandise many of the most popular magazines and comic books in Japan. VIZ Media is among the licensing partners.
Key company developments in 2011 & 1st half year 2012
Financial:
Revenues at Shueisha have been flat over the past 5 years.
Ownership, mergers & acquisition, internal organization:
The Hitotsubashi Group is a “keiretsu,” or holding structure, owning the Shogakukan, Shueisha and Hakusensha publishing groups.
International:
In a joint effort with Animate Ltd. and Libre Publishing Co., VIZ Media has launched a Yaoi imprint called SuBlime in the US. Yaoi is a type of romance Manga that is especially popular with young women.
Digital:
S-Manga is a portal site covering content on Shueisha's comics, on-sale dates for remixes and magazines, media adaptation information, and introductions on new releases and content samples. Shueisha also operates several pay subscription sites, notably VYJ, and Shupure.
Bestselling authors & titles:
In books, Sheuisha’s program includes a wide range of series of “Bunko” fiction (usually Manga based) in genres such as romance, history, mystery, and classics, as well as translations. In the comics division, ongoing series go back to the 1950s and 1960s (with Ribon since 1955, or Margaret since 1963).
Reflecting a continued effort to translate and adapt international comics to the Japanese market, Sheuisha released a translation of Belgium comic artist Schuiten’s Les Cités Obscures via ShoPro, with an initial set of three volumes in a 400 page volume.
Key points for analysis & conclusions:
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Earlier developments:
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Note: Figures are based on sales generated in calendar 2011 or—for corporations with a fiscal year—from fiscal 2011. Data are from publicly available sources and include sales of books, journals, and digital products. Because publishing data were unavailable, Pannini and Disney/Hyperion are excluded from the rankings. The listing and publisher profiles were compiled by international publishing consultant Rudiger Wischenbart under the aegis of Livres Hebdo.
