Sign in

Private company

Kobunsha

Logo: Kobunsha, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Japanese publishing company

Kobunsha Co., Ltd. (株式会社光文社, Kabushiki-gaisha Kobunsha) is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines.2 It is part of Kodansha.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Oct 1, 1945Founded1
  • Industrypublishing industry1
  • HeadquartersTokyo1
  • Websitewww.kobunsha.com
  • Legal formkabushiki gaisha1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Kobunsha Co., Ltd. (株式会社光文社, Kabushiki-gaisha Kobunsha) is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines.2

Corporate structure

Kobunsha is part of a group headed by Kodansha. 17 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Kodansha Otowa
    • Kobunsha Tokyo
    • Ichijinsha Subsidiary · Tokyo
      • REX Comics Subsidiary
      • 4-Koma Kings Palette Comics Subsidiary · Japan
      • ID Comics Subsidiary · Japan
      • Yuri Hime Comics Subsidiary · Japan
    • King Record Co. Ltd. Subsidiary · Otowa, Japan
    • Kodansha Comics Subsidiary
    • Kodansha Comics Friend Subsidiary
    • Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC Subsidiary · New York City
      • Vertical Subsidiary
      • Kodansha Books Subsidiary · United States
    • Young Magazine KC Subsidiary
    • King Records Subsidiary · Japan
    • Afternoon KC Owned · Japan
    • Aoitori Bunko Owned · Japan
    • Aria Comics Owned · Japan
    • Evening KC Owned · Japan
    • Getsumaga Kichi Owned · Japan
    • K Ranobe Books Owned · Japan
    • KC Deluxe Owned · Japan
    • KC Dessert Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Box Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Bunko Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Character Bunko Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Comics Kiss Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Comics Nakayoshi Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Novels Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha Ranobe Bunko Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha X Bunko Owned · Japan
    • Kodansha X Bunko Teens Heart Owned · Japan
    • and 10 more

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group.

The company has published Japanese authors such as Tetsuya Honda, Keigo Higashino, Jiro Akagawa, Miyuki Miyabe and Arimasa Osawa and foreign authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Jean Genet, Malcolm Gladwell, Jon Ronson, JD Vance, Hanya Yanagihara and Zhao Ziyang.

In 1975, Kobunsha published the women's magazine JJ, known as the earliest established women's magazine for college students in Japan.

From 1994, it established the Kobun Foundation and began publishing more mystery novels. The Foundation has been awarding a Grand Prize for Best Mystery Novels each year.

Kobunsha currently publishes women's magazines such as JJ, Classy and JJ Bis.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kobunsha, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • manga

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Oct 1, 1945Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4