BrandWikiReturn

Kadokawa Corporation

Kadokawa Corporation (株式会社KADOKAWA), formerly Kadokawa Dwango Corporation, (カドカワ株式会社) is a Japanese conglomerate based in Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo.

Created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014,[2][3] the company has holdings in entertainment (including anime and video game studios), publishing, and real estate among other assets.

Kadokawa is a member of the Motion Picture Association of Japan (MPPAJ) and is therefore one of the youngest of Japan's Big Four film studios.

History

The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was originally founded in 1945 as Kadokawa Shoten, to "revitalize Japanese culture through publishing" in the postwar era.[4] It was merged with Dwango Co., Ltd. to form Kadokawa Dwango on October 1, 2014, and became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Dwango.

In February 2019, Kadokawa Dwango announced that Dwango would stop being its subsidiary to be a direct subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation in a reorganization of the company. This made Kadokawa Corporation the sole subsidiary of the holding company Kadokawa Dwango.[5]

On July 1, 2019, Kadokawa Dwango was reorganized again;[6] only the publishing business remained in Kadokawa Corporation, and it was renamed Kadokawa Future Publishing, while Kadokawa Dwango itself became the second iteration of Kadokawa Corporation and the holding company of all of the Kadokawa Group companies. The original name Kadokawa Shoten remains as a brand and a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing.

On February 4, 2021, Kadokawa announced that the company had formed a Capital Alliance with Sony and CyberAgent to strengthen the company's creation, development, and acquisition of new IP while also maximizing use of existing IPs. As part of the agreement, both Sony and CyberAgent would receive a 1.93% stake in the company.[7]

By August 2021, Kakao Japan had acquired an 8.3% stake in Kadokawa, making it the largest shareholder at the time.[8] On October 29, 2021, Kadokawa announced that it had formed a capital and business alliance with Tencent, which acquired a 6.86% stake in the conglomerate for ¥30 billion ($264 million). The aim of the alliance is for Kadokawa to expand its global reach using Tencent's platforms. China, where the company has an existing joint venture with Tencent, is a particular target.[9]

In January 2024, Kadokawa announced that they've entered a partnership with Belgium publishing company Dupuis to acquire a 51% stake in the latter's manga imprint Vega Dupuis and had launched a joint venture business with Dupuis that could bring Kadokawa's own titles as well as publishing Japanese and Korean comics to the French market named Vega SAS with Dupuis retaining a 49% stake in the now joint venture imprint.[10][11]

In July 2024, the company announced that it had acquired anime studio Doga Kobo.[12]

In November 2024, it was reported that Sony Group Corporation was in talks to acquire Kadokawa.[13] Sony, which had acquired shares in the company in 2021,[14] had previously discussed acquiring Kadokawa outright, but was only interested in its anime and video game assets. However, Kadokawa insisted that acquisition offers encompass the entire company.[14][15]

On December 19, 2024, Sony announced a "strategic capital and business alliance" with Kadokawa, under which it acquired 12 million new shares for ¥50 billion ($320 million) on January 7, 2025, giving Sony a 10% stake and making it Kadokawa's largest single shareholder at the time. As part of the agreement, Kadokawa is set to collaborate with Sony on projects involving its IPs, including anime co-productions, live-action adaptations, and widening distribution.[14]

In February 2025, Kadokawa announced that BookWalker and Kadokawa Connected into Dwango, which took effect on April 1, 2025. This merger did not affect the activities of the merged companies, such as BookWalker, which retains with its brand and operations, but managed by Dwango.[16] In May 2025, Kadokawa announced that it would acquire a 70% stake in Edizioni BD, an Italian manga publisher.[17] Oasis Management acquired a 13.76% stake in the company in March 2026, making it the company's largest single shareholder.[18][19]

Arrest of chairman

In September 2022 chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa—son of founder Genyoshi—was arrested as part of a police investigation into bribery. Prosecutors alleged that the Kadokawa chairman authorized a ¥76 million payment (adjusted to ¥69 million under Japan's statute of limitations) to a consulting company with ties to a former executive of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee in exchange for being selected as an official sponsor of the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Kadokawa has denied the allegations, and his company announced that it would cooperate with the investigation.[20] Kadokawa was indicted by prosecutors on October 4, 2022. Later that day he announced his intent to resign as the chairman of his company. He continued to deny the allegations and vowed to prove his innocence at trial.[21]

2024 ransomware attack

On June 8, 2024, a group of hackers called BlackSuit launched a ransomware attack on multiple websites owned by Kadokawa, including the video streaming website Niconico, resulting in most of its services being temporarily suspended. On June 27, the hacker group published a statement on the dark web, claiming responsibility for the attack and threatening to release 1.5 terabytes of stolen data, which included business partner information and user data, unless a ransom was paid.[22][23]

Group companies

Kadokawa Corporation serves to bring together several affiliated Japanese companies related to Kadokawa Shoten under what is known as the Kadokawa Group.[24] These companies are of three types: publishing, film and visuals, and cross media. The publishers primarily deal with books, bunkobon paperbacks, manga, and visual media magazines;[25] the film and visual companies deal with Japanese feature films and DVD sales of international films and anime;[26] the cross media companies deal with digital content, urban information and television program information magazines, along with information transmission combining paper media, the Internet, and mobile phones.[27] Other aspects of the group are handled by the other business segment which primarily takes care of video games, real estate leasing, and comprises an advertising agency.[28]

Publication

Group media and Entertainment

Films and visuals

Others

  • ATX
  • Arclight
  • Anime Tourism Association
  • Customcast
  • C・P・S
  • Kadokawa ASCII Research Laboratories
  • Cool Japan Travel, Inc. (75%)
  • Kadokawa Architecture
  • Kadokawa Contents Academy
  • Kadokawa Craft
  • K's Lab
  • Karksa Media Partner Corporation (34%)
  • Page Turner
  • Production Ace
  • Tokorozawa Sakuratown Corporation
  • Yellow Jam

Overseas

  • Animate Oversea (joint venture under Kadokawa Taiwan with Animate and United Distribution Co.)
  • Guangzhou Tianwen Kadokawa Animation and Comics
  • Hemisphere Motion Picture Partners I
  • Hemisphere Motion Picture Partners II
  • Japan Manga Alliance (joint venture with Animate, Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan)
  • Animate JMA (Thailand)
  • J-Novel Club
  • JNC Nina
  • Kadokawa Amarin (joint venture with Amarin Group, marketed under the brand Phoenix Next)
  • Kadokawa Contents Academy
  • Kadokawa Hong Kong
  • Kadokawa Holdings Asia
  • Kadokawa Global Marketing
  • Kadokawa Gempak Starz (Malaysia) (80%)
  • Kadokawa Holdings US
  • Kadokawa International Edutainment (Taiwan)
  • Kadokawa Pictures America
  • Kadokawa Taiwan Corporation
  • Kadokawa Consulting (Thailand)
  • Kadokawa Qingyu (Shanghai) Culture & Creation
  • Kadokawa World Entertainment (US)
  • Anime News Network (majority, co-owned with Christopher Macdonald and Bandai Namco Filmworks)[32][33]
  • Phoenix Gramedia Indonesia (joint venture with Kompas Gramedia)[34][35]
  • Sun Wah Kadokawa (Hong Kong) Group
  • Taiwan Animate
  • Yen Press (51%, co-owned with Hachette Book Group)

Technology

Former subsidiaries

  • Asmik Ace
  • Daihyakka News: Merged with Dwango in July 2019.
  • Kadokawa Entertainment: On November 1, 2009, Kadokawa Entertainment was merged into Kadokawa Pictures.
  • Kadokawa Group Publishing: On April 1, 2013, Kadokawa Group Publishing was merged into Kadokawa Group Holdings.
  • Kadokawa Games: In May 2022, Kadokawa Games divested its business into a separate company called Dragami Games, including its IPs.[36]
  • Kadokawa J:COM Media: Established in November 2005 as a joint venture between Kadokawa Shoten and J:COM.[37] It was eliminated in June 2010.
  • So-net Kadokawa Link: Established on June 27, 2007, with So-net Entertainment (43.5%), Kadokawa Mobile (43.5%), and Dentsu E-link[38] (13.0%).[39]
  • Kadokawa Mobile and Movie Gate: On October 1, 2009, Kadokawa Mobile merged with Movie Gate to form Kadokawa Contents Gate.[40]
  • Kadokawa Production: On October 1, 2013, the company was dissolved and integrated into Kadokawa Corporation.
  • Mages: On July 12, 2019, Mages was acquired by Chiyomaru Studio, a concept and copyright company also headed by Mages CEO.[41]
  • MediaLeaves: On January 10, 2010, MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain.[42]
  • NTT Prime Square: On November 30, 2010, Fan service ended a joint venture with NTT.
  • Sarugakucho: Became part of Kadokawa Group Holdings under Enterbrain during the ASCII acquisition. On March 31, 2010, Pole To Win announced that it has acquired Sarugakucho.[43]
  • Studio Lide: Closed in April 2019.
  • Words Gear: On September 26, 2006, Panasonic announced the establishment of Words Gear with Kadokawa Mobile and Tokyo Broadcasting System, effective on October 2, 2006.[44] On September 30, 2010, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced that it will merging Words Gear into Kadokawa Contents Gate, with Kadokawa Contents Gate as the surviving company, effective on January 1, 2011.[45]

See also

  • ASCII Media Works – They split from Kadokawa, but became a subsidiary of Kadokawa again.
  • D.League

External links

References

  1. KADOKAWA Integrated Report 2022 group.kadokawa.co.jp, retrieved April 27, 2023^
  2. Dwango to merge with Kadokawa The Japan Times, May 14, 2014, retrieved April 13, 2015^
  3. Publisher Kadokawa, Internet firm Dwango complete merger The Japan Times, October 1, 2014, retrieved April 13, 2015^
  4. Kadokawa Corporation: Corporation History^
  5. Karen Ressler. Nobuo Kawakami Steps Down as Kadokawa Dwango President Anime News Network, retrieved February 16, 2019^
  6. 会社分割（簡易吸収分割）の実施、商号変更及び定款一部変更、並びに代表取締役及び役員の異動に関するお知らせ E-IR, Pronexus Inc., retrieved May 14, 2019^
  7. Alex Mateo. Kadokawa Corporation Forms Capital Alliance with CyberAgent, Sony Anime News Network, February 5, 2021, retrieved February 5, 2021^
  8. Joo-wan Kim, Jun-ho Cha, Min-ki Koo. Kakao Group's past, present and future as conglomerate The Korea Economic Daily, August 17, 2021, retrieved November 24, 2024^
  9. Notice Concerning Strategic Alliance with Tencent Group Kadokawa Corporation, October 29, 2021, retrieved July 30, 2022^
  10. KADOKAWA forms French Joint Venture with Dupuis of European Média-Participations Group Kadokawa, January 25, 2024, retrieved December 18, 2024^
  11. Adriana Hazra. Kadokawa Launches Joint Venture Business With French Publisher Dupuis Anime News Network, February 3, 2024, retrieved December 18, 2024^
  12. Crystalyn Hodgkins. Kadokawa Acquires Anime Studio Doga Kobo Anime News Network, July 11, 2024, retrieved July 11, 2024^
  13. Anirban Sen, Sam Nussey. Exclusive: Sony is in talks to buy media powerhouse behind 'Elden Ring' Reuters, November 19, 2024, retrieved November 24, 2024^
  14. James Batchelor. Sony to become largest shareholder of FromSoftware parent Kadokawa Corporation GamesIndustry.biz, December 19, 2024, retrieved December 19, 2024^
  15. Takashi Mochizuki. Sony's Pursuit of Anime Publisher Holds More Opportunity Than Risk Bloomberg News, November 26, 2024, retrieved November 28, 2024^
  16. Crystalyn Hodgkins. BookWalker, Dwango, Kadokawa Connected to Merge With Dwango Becoming the Surviving Company (Updated) Anime News Network, February 2, 2025, retrieved July 25, 2025^
  17. Alex Mateo. Kadokawa Enters Agreement to Acquire Italian Manga/Novel Publisher Edizioni BD/J-Pop Manga Anime News Network, May 19, 2025, retrieved July 25, 2025^
  18. Kadokawa's activist shareholder Oasis Management raises stake to 11.85%, exceeding Sony's Automaton, March 26, 2026, retrieved March 26, 2026^
  19. Kadokawa says its policies are "not influenced by the actions of individual shareholders" as overseas activist investor becomes largest shareholder with 13.76% stake Automaton, March 31, 2026, retrieved March 31, 2026^
  20. Kadokawa chairman arrested over Tokyo Olympics bribery scandal Kyodo News, September 15, 2022, retrieved September 15, 2022^
  21. Publisher Kadokawa's chairman indicted over Olympics bribery Kyodo News, October 4, 2022, retrieved October 4, 2022^
  22. Jiji. Hackers behind Kadokawa cyberattack claim new info leak The Japan Times, 3 July 2024, retrieved 3 July 2024^
  23. Tatsuya Sudo. More Kadokawa data leaked as deadline for ransom passes The Asahi Shimbun, July 2, 2024, retrieved 3 July 2024^
  24. KADOKAWA Corporation Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved November 10, 2013^
  25. Publishing businesses under Kadokawa Group Holdings Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved November 21, 2009^
  26. Movie/Visual businesses under Kadokawa Group Holdings Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved November 21, 2009^
  27. Cross media businesses under Kadokawa Group Holdings Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved November 21, 2009^
  28. Other businesses under Kadokawa Group Holdings Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved November 21, 2009^
  29. Report: Kadokawa Acquires Dark Souls Developers From Software Silliconera, April 28, 2014, retrieved May 21, 2014^
  30. Kadokawa Establishes New Anime Studio Bellnox Films Anime News Network, May 7, 2024^
  31. ANIMATION/FILM^
  32. KADOKAWA Announces Acquisition of Anime News Network's Media Business Anime News Network, retrieved November 1, 2022^
  33. About Kadokawa's Investment in ANN Anime News Network, retrieved November 1, 2022^
  34. Establishment of a Joint Venture with Gramedia, the largest publisher and largest bookstore network in Indonesia January 5, 2024, retrieved January 11, 2024^
  35. Media Giants Gramedia and Kadokawa Establish a Joint Venture in Indonesia KAORI Nusantara, January 9, 2024, retrieved January 11, 2024^
  36. Kadokawa Games to divest part of its business to Dragami Games, a new company established by Yoshimi Yasuda Gematsu, 2022-05-26, retrieved 2023-07-31^
  37. 角川ジェイコム・メディア 「J:COM Walker」創刊 J:COM さいたま、J:COM 相模原・大和 各サービスエリアで8 月に発行 PR Times, June 14, 2007, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  38. https://www.cci.co.jp/special/newsrelease/pdf/2003_0624_1.pdf Cyber Communications, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  39. https://www.sonynetwork.co.jp/corporation/release/2007/pr070626.pdf So-net Entertainment, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  40. http://www.kadokawa-hd.co.jp/topics/20091001.pdf Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  41. Romano, Sal. Mages goes independent from Kadokawa Group, 5pb. to consolidate into Mages Gematsu, July 26, 2019, retrieved July 26, 2019^
  42. MediaLeaves, Inc. announcement MediaLeaves, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  43. https://www.ptw.co.jp/news/sarugakucho.pdf Pole To Win, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  44. 角川・松下電器・TBS 3社が電子書籍事業会社 「ワーズギア株式会社」設立で合意 ～読書端末とコンテンツを提供～ Panasonic, retrieved April 11, 2012^
  45. http://www.kadokawa-hd.co.jp/topics/20100930.pdf Kadokawa Group Holdings, retrieved April 11, 2012^