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Created as a result of themerger of the original Kadokawa Corporation andDwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014,[4][5] the company has holdings in entertainment (includinganime andvideo game studios), publishing, and real estate among other assets.
Kadokawa is a member of the Motion Picture Association of Japan (MPPAJ) and is therefore one of the youngest of Japan's Big Four film studios.
The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was originally founded in 1945 asKadokawa Shoten, to "revitalize Japanese culture through publishing" in the postwar era.[6] It was merged withDwango Co., Ltd. to form Kadokawa Dwango on October 1, 2014, and became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Dwango.
In February 2019, Kadokawa Dwango announced that Dwango would stop being their subsidiary to be a direct subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation in a reorganization of the company. This made Kadokawa Corporation the sole subsidiary of the holding company Kadokawa Dwango.[7]
On July 1, 2019, Kadokawa Dwango was reorganized again;[8] only the publishing business remained in Kadokawa Corporation, and it was renamedKadokawa Future Publishing, while Kadokawa Dwango itself became the second iteration of Kadokawa Corporation and the holding company of all of the Kadokawa Group companies. The original nameKadokawa Shoten remains as a brand and a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing.
On February 4, 2021, Kadokawa announced that the company had formed a Capital Alliance withSony andCyberAgent to strengthen the company's creation, development, and acquisition of new IP while also maximizing use of existing IPs. As part of the agreement, both Sony and CyberAgent would receive a 1.93% stake in the company.[9]
By August 2021,Kakao Japan had acquired an 8.3% stake in Kadokawa, making them the largest shareholder at the time.[10] On October 29, 2021, Kadokawa announced that it had formed a capital and business alliance withTencent, which acquired a 6.86% stake in the conglomerate for ¥30 billion ($264 million). The aim of the alliance is for Kadokawa to expand its global reach using Tencent's platforms. China, where the company has an existing joint venture with Tencent, is a particular target.[11]
In January 2024, Kadokawa announced that they've entered a partnership with Belgium publishing companyDupuis to acquire a 51% stake in the latter's manga imprint Vega Dupuis and had launched a joint venture business with Dupuis that could bring Kadokawa's own titles as well as publishing Japanese and Korean comics to the French market named Vega SAS with Dupuis retaining a 49% stake in the now joint venture imprint.[12][13]
In July 2024, the company announced that it had acquired anime studioDoga Kobo.[14]
In November 2024, it was reported thatSony Group Corporation was in talks to acquire Kadokawa.[15] Sony, which had acquired shares in the company in 2021,[16] had previously discussed acquiring Kadokawa outright, but was only interested in its anime and video game assets. However, Kadokawa insisted that acquisition offers encompass the entire company.[16][17]
On December 19, 2024, Sony announced a "strategic capital and business alliance" with Kadokawa, under which it acquired 12 million new shares for ¥50 billion ($320 million) on January 7, 2025, giving Sony a 10% stake and making them Kadokawa's largest single shareholder. As part of the agreement, Kadokawa is set to collaborate with Sony on projects involving its IPs, including anime co-productions, live-action adaptations, and widening distribution.[16]
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.[18]
In September 2022 chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa—son of founder Genyoshi—was arrested as part of a police investigation intobribery. Prosecutors alleged that the Kadokawa chairman authorized a ¥76 million payment (adjusted to ¥69 million under Japan'sstatute of limitations) to a consulting company with ties to a former executive of theTokyo Olympics organizing committee in exchange for being selected as an official sponsor of the2020 Summer Olympic andParalympic Games. Kadokawa has denied the allegations, and his company announced that it would cooperate with the investigation.[19] Kadokawa wasindicted byprosecutors on October 4, 2022. Later that day he announced his intent to resign as the chairman of his company. He continued to deny the allegations and vowed to prove his innocence at trial.[20]
On June 8, 2024, a group of hackers called BlackSuit launched aransomware attack on multiple websites owned by Kadokawa, including the video streaming websiteNiconico, resulting in most of its services being temporarily suspended. On June 27, the hacker group published a statement on thedark web, claiming responsibility for the attack and threatening to release 1.5terabytes of stolen data, which included business partner information and user data, unless a ransom was paid.[21][22]
Kadokawa Corporation serves to bring together several affiliated Japanese companies related to Kadokawa Shoten under what is known as the Kadokawa Group.[23] These companies are of three types: publishing, film and visuals, and cross media. The publishers primarily deal withbooks,bunkobon paperbacks,manga, and visual media magazines;[24] the film and visual companies deal with Japanese feature films and DVD sales of international films andanime;[25] the cross media companies deal with digital content, urban information and television program information magazines, along with information transmission combining paper media, theInternet, andmobile phones.[26] Other aspects of the group are handled by the other business segment which primarily takes care ofvideo games,real estate leasing, and comprises anadvertising agency.[27]
Kadokawa Mobile and Movie Gate: On October 1, 2009, Kadokawa Mobile merged with Movie Gate to form Kadokawa Contents Gate.[40]
Kadokawa Production: On October 1, 2013, the company was dissolved and integrated into Kadokawa Corporation.
Mages: On July 12, 2019, Mages was acquired byChiyomaru Studio, a concept and copyright company also headed by Mages CEO.[41]
MediaLeaves: On January 10, 2010, MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain.[42]
NTT Prime Square: On November 30, 2010, Fan service ended a joint venture withNTT.
Sarugakucho: Became part of Kadokawa Group Holdings under Enterbrain during theASCII acquisition. On March 31, 2010, Pole To Win announced that it has acquired Sarugakucho.[43]
Studio Lide: Closed in April 2019.
Words Gear: On September 26, 2006,Panasonic announced the establishment of Words Gear with Kadokawa Mobile andTokyo Broadcasting System, effective on October 2, 2006.[44] On September 30, 2010, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced that it will merging Words Gear into Kadokawa Contents Gate, with Kadokawa Contents Gate as the surviving company, effective on January 1, 2011.[45]
^"KADOKAWA Corporation"グループ会社一覧 [Group Company Summary] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Group Holdings.Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. RetrievedNovember 10, 2013.
¥258,109 billion[1] (2024)
¥18,454 billion[1] (2024)
