CATDOLL: Kodansha sets the trend of digital comics in Japan again

With the development of science and technology and the popularization of mobile devices, traditional paper media are increasingly challenged by electronic media. Not only young people, but people of all ages are increasingly inclined to use mobile phones or tablets to read comics, novels and news. In response to this trend, Kodansha, a well-known Japanese publishing house, announced that all of its 22 comic magazines will be digitized starting in 2015.

Prior to this, Shueisha had already digitized its flagship manga magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump" in 2014, and also launched a free manga mobile client Jump+. The reason why Kodansha announced the digitization a step later is that the digitization of traditional paper manga magazines also requires a lot of manpower investment, and some cartoonists have doubts about the digitization. Kodansha needs to communicate continuously and take care of the reading experience of the majority of readers. Kodansha will first digitize the three manga magazines "Weekly Shonen Jump", "Monthly Shonen Magazine" and "Yong Magazine", and then complete the digitization of the remaining manga magazines before June 2015. As for the digitization of Kodansha's manga magazines, it is very likely to be completed with the help of Amazon's Kindle e-books, Goolge Play, App Store and other platforms, or launch Kodansha's exclusive mobile manga application.