, before 2018 known as , is a Japanese website that distributes out of print

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and doujinshi as DRM-free

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

s, with the permission of the

authors An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and supported by advertising. J-Comi is limited to out of print titles so that quality of the work is assured and so that J-Comi does not compete with publishers. The site was the idea of famed manga artist Ken Akamatsu, officially established on January 25, 2008. But it was not launched until April 12, 2011, after it gained momentum in response to

Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths The is a prefectural law passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on August 1, 1964. Its purpose is to promote the healthy development of people under the age of 18 by restricting their access to published material that is considered inappro ...

' 2011 passing of

Bill 156 The is a prefectural law passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on August 1, 1964. Its purpose is to promote the healthy development of people under the age of 18 by restricting their access to published material that is considered inappr ...

, which many manga creators opposed.

Beta test

The first beta test began on November 26, 2010, and included all 14 volumes of CEO Ken Akamatsu's '' Love Hina''. Over the first two days of the beta, there were more than 1 million downloads. Publishers

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

and Shueisha are collaborating with J-Comi, and Shueisha provided some additional manga titles for a second beta test. One of the titles in the beta test, Mayu Shinjo's "After School Wedding", earned 525,000 yen over a month.

Amnesty program

J-Comi created an amnesty program for unauthorised scans of out of print manga, the "Illegal Out-of-Print Manga File Purification Project," whereby users of J-Comi would upload them anonymously to J-Comi, J-Comi would seek permission from the author to publish them, add advertising to the manga and publish them, giving the author the revenues.

Other developments

Currently in Japanese only, J-Comi worked with Google on a comic viewer which could be expanded to American consumers. Readers can add commentary or translations to J-Comi titles. As of September 2011, J-Comi hosted 103 works. In October 2011, J-Comi added a pay service for erotic manga, including a title which was banned under the revised

.Akamatsu's J-Comi Site Posts Adult Manga Restricted by Tokyo Law - News - Anime News Network
/ref>

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official websiteOfficial blog of Ken Akamatsu
includes many entries on J-Comi Ebook sources Internet properties established in 2010 Japanese entertainment websites 2010 establishments in Japan Manga distributors Anime and manga websites