is a Japanese

publishing company Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

based in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

.Louis Frédéric, ''Japan Encyclopedia'', Harvard University Press, 2005, p. 409. Iwanami Shoten was founded in 1913 by Iwanami Shigeo. Its first major publication was

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of Br ...

's novel '' Kokoro'', which appeared as a book in 1914 after being serialized in the ''

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

''. Iwanami has since become known for scholarly publications, editions of classical Japanese literature, dictionaries, and high-quality paperbacks. Since 1955, it has published the ''

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mi ...

'', a single-volume dictionary of Japanese that is widely considered to be authoritative. Iwanami's head office is at Hitotsubashi 2–5–5,

Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...

Company history

Iwanami Shigeo founded the publishing firm Iwanami Shoten in the Kanda district of Tokyo in 1913. In its early years, the company published authors such as Natsume Sōseki, Kurata Hyakuzō and Abe Jiro. It also published academic and literary journals in the field of philosophy, including ''Shijo'' (1917) and ''Shicho'' (1921), science, including ''Kagaku'' (1931), and literature, such as ''Bungaku'' (1933). In 1927, it launched the (Iwanami Library), a "major series of international works". During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the firm was repeatedly censored because of its positions against the war and the Emperor. Iwanami Shigeo was even sentenced to two months in prison for the publication of the banned works of Tsuda Sōkichi (a sentence which he did not serve, however). Shortly before his death in 1946, he founded the newspaper '' Sekai'', which had a great influence in post-war Japanese intellectual circles. In 1955, the company released its Japanese language dictionary, ''

'', which is highly regarded today and sold more than eleven million copies in 2007. During the post-war decades, it continued to publish numerous foreign classics as well as encyclopedias. In 2010, around 20,000 titles were released by Iwanami Shoten.

Book series

* Iwanami Bunko ( 岩波文庫) (English, "Iwanami Paperback Library") (1927) * Iwanami Gendai Bunko (岩波現代文庫) (English, "Iwanami Modern Paperback Library") (2000) * Iwanami Gendai Zensho (岩波現代全書) (English, "Iwanami Modern Complete Books") * Iwanami Kōza Sekai Shichō (岩波講座世界思潮) (English, "Iwanami Lectures on Trends in World Thought") (1928) - often referred to in short as Iwanami Koza (岩波講座) (English, "Iwanami Lectures" or "Iwanami Courses") * Iwanami Shashin Bunko (岩波写真文庫), (English, "Iwanami Photo Library") * Iwanami Shinsho ( 岩波新書) (English, "Iwanami Trade Paperbacks") * Iwanami Sugaku Sosho (岩波数学叢書) (English, "Iwanami Mathematics Series") * Koza Nihon Eiga (講座・日本映画) (English, "A Course on Japanese Film" or "Lectures on Japanese Film") (1985)Koza Nihon Eiga (Iwanami Shoten) - Book Series List
publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 17 June 2022. * Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei (日本古典文学大系) (English, "Japanese Classical Literature System") (1967) * Yūtopia Ryokō-ki Sōsho (ユートピア旅行記叢書) (English, "Utopia Travel Journal") (1996–2002)

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial website - English version
Book publishing companies in Tokyo Japanese companies established in 1913 Liberal media in Japan Magazine publishing companies in Tokyo Publishing companies established in 1913 Visual arts publishing companies {{Japan-company-stub