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[[Image:Kodansha (head office).jpg|thumb|right|The head office of Kodansha]]

{{nihongo|'''Kodansha Limited'''|株式会社講談社|Kabushiki-gaisha Kōdansha}}, the largest [[Japan]]ese publisher, produces the manga magazines ''[[Nakayoshi]]'', ''[[Afternoon (magazine)|Afternoon]]'', ''[[Evening (magazine)|Evening]]'' and ''[[Weekly Shonen Magazine]]'', as well as more literary magazines such as ''[[Gunzō]]'', ''[[Weekly Gendai|Shūkan Gendai]]'', and the Japanese dictionary ''[[Nihongo Daijiten]]''. The company has its headquarters in [[Bunkyo, Tokyo|Bunkyo]], [[Tokyo]]. {{As of | 2010}} the Noma family - relatives of the founder - continues to own Kodansha.

==History==
Seiji Noma (Noma Seiji) founded Kodansha in 1909 as a spinoff of the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai'' (Greater Japan Oratorical Society) and produced the literary magazine ''Yūben'' as its first publication.  The name ''Kodansha'' (taken from "Kōdan Club", a now defunct magazine published by the company) originated in 1911 when the publisher formally merged with the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai''. The company has used its {{as of | 2010 | alt = current}} legal name since 1958. It uses the motto ''Omoshirokute tame ni naru'' ("To be interesting and beneficial").

Kodansha Limited owns the Otowa Group, which manages subsidiary companies such as [[King Records (Japan)|King Records]] and [[Kobunsha]], and publishes ''Nikkan Gendai'', a daily tabloid.  It also has close ties with [[The Walt Disney Company]], and officially sponsors [[Tokyo Disneyland]].

The largest publisher in Japan, Kodansha once{{When|date=June 2009}} had an annual revenue of more than ¥200 billion. Revenues dropped due to the 2002 [[Economic history of Japan|recession in Japan]] and an accompanying downturn in the [[publishing industry]]: the company posted a loss in the 2002 financial year for the first time since the end of the World War II.  (The second-largest publisher, [[Shogakukan]], has done relatively better. In the 2003 financial year, Kodansha had revenues of ¥167 billion, as compared to ¥150 billion for Shogakukan. Kodansha at its peak led Shogakukan by over ¥50 billion in revenue.)

Kodansha sponsors the prestigious [[Kodansha Manga Award]], which has run in its {{as of|2009|alt=current}} form since 1977 (and since 1960 under other names).

Kodansha's headquarters in Tokyo once housed [[Noma Dojo|Noma Dōjō]], a [[kendo]] practice-hall established by Seiji Noma in 1925. Japanese media{{Which?|date=June 2009}} described the ''[[dōjō]]'', the only surviving example of its type, as a "holy place" for kendo enthusiasts; and building-preservationists saw it as a priceless example of [[martial arts | martial-arts]] architecture. Kodansha demolished the hall in November 2007, however, and replaced it with a dōjō in a new building nearby.

==Relationships with other organizations==
The Kodansha company holds ownership in various broadcasters in Japan, and is believed{{By whom|date=June 2009}} to hold around 20% of the [[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]] Group's stock.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}  It also holds shares in [[Nippon Cultural Broadcasting]], along with Kobunsha.  In the recent{{When|date=June 2009}} takeover-war for [[Nippon Broadcasting System]] between [[Livedoor]] and [[Fuji Television|Fuji TV]], Kodansha supported Fuji TV by selling its stock to Fuji TV.

Kodansha has a somewhat complicated relationship with [[NHK]], Japan's [[national broadcaster]]. Many of the manga and novels published by Kodansha have spawned anime adaptations. Animation such as ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' aired in NHK's ''Eisei Anime Gekijō'' time-slot, and Kodansha published a companion-magazine to the NHK children's show ''Okāsan to Issho''. The two companies often clash editorially, however. The October 2000 issue of ''Gendai'' accused NHK of staging footage used in a news report in 1997 on [[dynamite fishing]] in Indonesia. NHK sued Kodansha in the Tokyo District Court, which ordered Kodansha to publish a retraction and to pay ¥4 million in damages.  Kodansha appealed the decision, and reached a settlement where it had to issue only a partial retraction, and to pay no damages.<ref>http://engei.s17.xrea.com/gendai1/0001.html</ref> ''Gendai'''s sister magazine ''Shūkan Gendai'' nonetheless published an article which probed further into the staged-footage controversy which has dogged NHK.

===Honors===
* [[Japan Foundation]]: Japan Foundation Special Prize, 1994.<ref>[http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/about/award/index.html  Japan Foundation Special Prize, 1994]</ref>

== Publications ==
* ''[[Gunzo (magazine)|Gunzo]]'', monthly literary magazine

==See also==
* [[Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial House]]
* [[Noma Award]]
* [[Tuttle Publishing]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Kodansha}}
* [http://www.kodansha-intl.com/ Kodansha International]
* [http://www.kodansha.co.jp/ Kodansha Japanese website] {{ja icon}}
* [http://www.kodansha.co.jp/english/index.html Kodansha Official English Website]

{{Kodansha manga magazines}}

[[Category:Book publishing companies of Japan]]
[[Category:Companies based in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1909]]
[[Category:Kodansha| ]]
[[Category:Magazine companies of Japan]]
[[Category:Manga distributors]]

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