, stylized as Book☆Walker and BOOK☆WALKER, is a Japanese

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

store that sells

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

s, and

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

s from various publishers, as well as a few published by themselves. It is based in

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

and was created by

Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango (company), Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014, the company has ...

. The company was founded in 2005 before launching their store in Japan in 2010 and internationally in 2014, in which year a

webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

-focused

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

counterpart, ComicWalker, was also launched. It has two direct subsidiaries, each with different focuses. One promotes the company's relationship with

influencers A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

and the other does reading-related

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

. On February 2025, Kadokawa announced the merger of Dwango, BookWalker and Kadokawa Connected into one company, with Dwango being the surviving company. This merger won't affect the activities of the merged companies, such as BookWalker, which will continue with its brand and operations but now managed by dwango.

History

BookWalker was founded as Kadokawa Mobile Co., Ltd. on December 3, 2005 by the

. On December 1, 2009, it was renamed to Kadokawa Content Gate Co., Ltd. In December 2010, the service was launched on

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

in Japan under the name Book☆Walker. An Android app and a PC website followed in April 2011 and December 2011 respectively. On July 1, 2010, the company was renamed to BookWalker Co., Ltd. In September 2013, the store was expanded to feature

as well as

s. BookWalker Global was launched in English in November 2014, featuring manga from

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

and

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. However, due to the lack of titles it was closed temporarily, before reopening in October 2015. In November 2015, the global store added thirty-five titles from

Shōnen Gahōsha is a Japanese publisher 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 refer ...

. In July 2015, the global store started offering titles from

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

. In December 2016, the Japanese store launched a magazine subscription service, called Magazine☆Walker. In March 2019, the global store started offering titles from

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...

. In April 2019, the global store started offering titles from

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

. In May 2019, the global store started offering titles from Sol Press. In December 2019, the Japanese store launched a subscription service that offers some of the books published by the parent company for a fee. On April 2, 2020, Magazine☆Walker ended service and was replaced with a new service called Book☆Walker Manga/Magazine Unlimited Reading.

Publishing

BookWalker has published a few titles internationally on their own for sale on their store, which include the following: * ''The 31st Consort'' (manga) * ''A Boy Raised By Gods Will Be The Strongest'' (manga) * ''The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress'' (light novel) * ''

Ga-Rei , is a Japan, Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Segawa. It has been serialized by Kadokawa Shoten in the magazine ''Shōnen Ace'' from 2005 to 2010 and collected in twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes. The English version was t ...

'' (manga) * '' Higehiro'' (light novel) * '' I'm Quitting Heroing'' (light novel, manga) * '' The Insipid Prince's Furtive Grab for The Throne'' (light novel, manga) * ''The Lotus Eaters, Drunk and Sober'' (manga) * ''Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest!'' (manga) * ''

Magical Warfare is a Japanese light novel series written by Hisashi Suzuki and illustrated by Lunalia. Twelve volumes have been published by Media Factory since November 25, 2011 under their MF Bunko J label. A manga adaptation by You Ibuki started serializ ...

'' (manga) * ''My Little Sister Stole My Fiancé: The Strongest Dragon Favors Me And Plans To Take Over The Kingdom?'' (manga) * '' New Normal'' (manga) * '' Riddle Story of Devil'' (manga) * '' The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done!'' (light novel) * '' Sentenced to Be a Hero'' (manga) * ''

Tokyo Ravens is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōhei Azano and illustrated by Sumihei. It was adapted into a manga series in 2010. It received an anime series on October 9, 2013 and ended on March 26, 2014. Funimation simulcasted the series on ...

'' (manga) * '' Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World?'' (manga)

Subsidiaries

;GeeXPlus GeeXPlus is Kadokawa's talent agency division that was founded on July 1, 2019, with the goal of "connecting Japanese brands to global influencers by providing promotion planning, production, and distribution." Talents affiliated with the Kadokawa-owned agency include

The Anime Man Joseph Tetsuro Bizinger (born 28 September 1994), known online as The Anime Man, as well as his stage name , is a Japanese-Australian YouTuber, Voice acting, voice actor, songwriter, and podcaster. His video work focuses on Japanese popular cult ...

, CDawgVA, Daidus, Emirichu, OniGiriEN, Gigguk, Ohara, Minori, Sydsnap, and TheGamingBeaver as of April 3, 2024. ;ComicWalker Established in March 2014, this subsidiary and mobile application, joining an existing app, Manga Box, allows free access to browse the digital manga and

s made available by BookWalker, in the languages of Japanese, English and Mandarin, as well as its own exclusive content. ;Trista Established in September 2014, this subsidiary provides various services, such as Niconico manga and an app to help monitor time spent reading. It became a subsidiary of BookWalker on April 1, 2018.

Notes

References

External links