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Kadokawa Corporation (KADOKAWA) (
Japanese: 株式会社KADOKAWA,
Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kadokawa), formerly Kadokawa Dwango Corporation,[3] is a Japanese media conglomerate that was created as a result of the
merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and
Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014.[4][5]
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.[6] 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 their 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.[7]
On July 1, 2019, Kadokawa Dwango was reorganized again;[8] 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 each receive a 1.93% stake in the company via American investment company of Japanese subsidiary,
KKR Japan acquired a 12% stake.[9]
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.[10]
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 Tokyo Olympic and
Paralympic Games. Kadokawa has denied the allegations, and his company announced that it would cooperate with the investigation.[11] 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.[12]
Group companies
Kadokawa Corporation serves to bring together several affiliated Japanese companies related to Kadokawa Shoten under what is known as the Kadokawa Group.[13] 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;[14] the film and visual companies deal with Japanese feature films and DVD sales of international films and
anime;[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]
Kadokawa Mobile and Movie Gate: On October 1, 2009, Kadokawa Mobile merged with Movie Gate to form Kadokawa Contents Gate.[27]
Kadokawa Production: On October 1, 2013, the company was dissolved and integrated in Kadokawa Corporation.
Mages: On July 12, 2019, Mages was acquired by
Chiyomaru Studio, a concept and copyright company also headed by Mages CEO.[28]
MediaLeaves: On January 10, 2010, MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain.[29]
NTT Prime Square: On November 30, 2010, Fan service endedm 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.[30]
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.[31] On September 30, 2010, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced merging Words Gear into Kadokawa Contents Gate, with Kadokawa Contents Gate as the surviving company, effective on January 1, 2011.[32]
See also
ASCII Media Works – They split from Kadokawa, but became a subsidiary of Kadokawa again.