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History of kobunsha
1945年―
- 1945.10
- Kobunsha Company Limited established
- 1954.10
- “Kappa Books,” a library of highly successful nonfiction annual best sellers, is launched following the succession of a number of hit works.
- 1958.12
- Josei Jishin (Women’s self), one of Kobunsha’s pillars in women’s weekly magazines, is launched.
- 1966.12
- Kappa Books’ Mental Calisthenics by Akira Tago becomes a best seller.
- 1975.04
- The monthly women’s magazine JJ is launched, leading to numerous life-size fashion booms such as “Hamatora” (Yokohama Traditional) previously nonexistent with Japanese women.
- 1984.04
- CLASSY., a monthly magazine targeting women in their late twenties, is launched.
- 1984.08
- “Kobunsha Pocketbooks” is launched.
- 1986.11
- FLASH, a weekly photojournalistic magazine focusing on entertainment news is launched.
- 1990.09
- Gainer, a monthly magazine targeting white-collar males in their twenties and thirties, is launched.
- 1995.06
- The women’s fashion magazine VERY is launched. A ground-breaking publication aimed at a new market of affluent housewives in their thirties, creating some vogue phrases such as “Shiroganese,” a naming for women living in posh area.
2000年―
- 2001.10
- “Kobunsha Books” is launched, which creates topsellers such as Taliban.
- 2002.11
- STORY, a pioneering fashion magazine targeting women in their forties, is launched.
- 2004.10
- Mart, a monthly magazine providing information on women’s lifestyles, is launched.
- 2005.09
- Shinya Yamada’s Why Don’t Laundry Pole Peddlers Go Bankrupt? published by Kobunsha Books sells over one million copies.
- 2006.05
- Memories of Tomorrow by Hiroshi Ogiwara is made into a film, produced by and starring Ken Watanabe. This is Kobunsha’s first venture into the film industry.
- 2006.09
- “Kobunsha New Translations of Classics Library” is launched. This instigates a boom in new translations of the classics with The Brothers Karamazov and many other classic novels, which become best sellers.
- 2008.03
- HERS, a monthly lifestyle magazine aimed at women in their fifties, is launched.
- 2009.08
- Be STORY (The Story of beauty, be ST in 2011), a version of STORY, is launched. This magazine names women who have both beauty and intelligence “Beautiful Witch”, that becomes a hot phrase and achieves a great deal of popularity.
- 2013.01
- Strawberry Night series by Tetsuya Honda, which has sold over three millions copies, is brought to the screen.
- 2013.04
- The Great Passage by Shion Miura, the work that won Bookseller Award in 2012, is brought to the screen.
