Manga are pretty much read by many in Japan, and over the decade, it has also found itself to be read by so many people living in various other parts of the world, as well.
So, while you are able to read so many different manga available online and offline, it also makes sense to know some of the best manga publishing companies.
In this article, I will be discussing about the 10 best manga book publishing companies and give a little bit of information about them, as well.
Contents
#1 Hakusensha
Hakusehsa is one of the bigger names in the world of manga publishing, and it has been established since the 70s.
Since then, the company mainly focusses on publishing manga magazines and produce some games, animation videos, music, and even animated TV series.
Some notable manga include Akatsuki no Yona and many others.
Company owners – Shueisha
Founding date – 1 December 1973
Number of employees – 91 Plus
Headquarters – Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
Famous titles produced – Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Ouran Koukou Host Club, Akatsuki no Yona, Hotarubi no Mori e
#2 Shueisha
Shueisha Inc. is also a big name in the world of manga, as it is considered to be one of the biggest publishing companies.
Shueisha has its own website where users are able to read manga for free, it is called as Manga Plus by Shueisha and I have even reviewed that website, so you can also check that out to know my in-depth thoughts about the website.
The company was established nearly a century ago, in 1925, and since then it has its own independent company.
Company owners – Hitotsubashi Group
Founding date – 8 August 1926
Number of employees – 750 Plus
Headquarters – Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
Famous titles produced – Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer, One Piece, and many more.
#3 Shogakukan
Staying close to Shueisha, we have Shogakukan.
Shogakukan Inc. is also a Japanese manga publishing company that deals in various other productions as well, such as dictionaries, comics, DVDs, and various other media in the country of Japan.
Shogakukan actually first founded Shueisha and one another company, Hakusensha.
All the companies work separately but they all come under one banner that is known as Hitotsubashi Group, making it one of the largest publishing companies in Japan.
Company owners – Takeo Ōga
Founding date – 8 August 1922
Number of employees – 728 Plus
Headquarters – Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
Famous titles produced – CoroCoro Comic, Shonen Sunday Super, Big Comic and many more.
#4 Kodansha Comics
Kodansha Ltd. is one of the oldest Japanese manga publishing company that has its headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo.
Kodansha has been around for more that a 120 Years now! And since then it has released various notable manga that you must have read.
Company CEO – Yoshinobu Noma
Founding date – 1909
Number of employees – 914 Plus
Headquarters – Tokyo, Japan
Famous titles produced – Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Bessatsu
#5 VIZ
VIZ Media, unlike its other competitors is actually an American publishing and entertainment company that has its headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Viz Media focuses on multiple different publishing of projects, primarily into manga, but it also help in distribution and licensing of various Japanese anime, television series and even films.
Compared to its competitors, Viz was founded fairly late, but still, it is a company that started in the 80s!
Company owners – Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions
Founding date – 2 July 1986
Number of employees – Not revealed
Headquarters – San Francisco, California, United States
Famous titles produced – One Punch, Yona Of The Dawn By Mizuho Kusanagi, Haikyuu!! By Haruichi Furudate and many more.
#6 Yen Press
Yen Press is also another American manga publishing company that publishes various graphic novels and even some light novels, as well.
The company is actually co-owned by the Hachette Book Group and the Kadokawa Corporation.
Together they also published something that was known as Yen Plus, it was a comic anthology series that was released monthly and it was from 2008 to 2013.
Company owners – KADOKAWA Future Publishing, Hachette Book Group, Kadokawa Pictures America, Inc.
Founding year – 2006
Number of employees – Not revealed
Headquarters – New York, United States
Famous titles produced – Oshi No Ko, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Solo Leveling, and many more!
#7 Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics is considered to be the third-largest American Manga and comic book publishing company.
Dark Horse comics produces various graphic novels, along with other comics, as well.
The company was founded in Milwaukie, Oregon and it was done so by Mike Richardson in the year 1986.
The company was started with the funds from the chain of Richardoson’s, which were comic book shops in Portland. The names of the chain shops were Pegasus Books.
Company owners – Embracer Group
Founding date – 4 February 1986
Number of employees – 412 Plus
Headquarters – Milwaukie, Oregon, United States
Famous titles produced – Mob Psycho, Berserk Deluxe Volume 1, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and many more.
#8 Seven Seas Entertainment
Seven Seas Entertainment is also among many American publishing companies, this one is located in the world of Hollywood, i.e., Los Angeles, California.
The company is the newest among all of its other competitors, having only been around for nearly two decades now.
Originally the company was dedicated to publishing only English-language manga that were original, however, since then the company also now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as well.
Company owners – Jason DeAngelis
Founding year – 2004
Number of employees – Not available
Headquarters – Los Angeles, California
Famous titles produced – 10 Beautiful Assasins, Absolute Duo, Box of Light, and many more.
#8 Tuttle Publishing
Founded in 1948, Tuttle Publishing is a company that has published more than six thousand books of various different genres, and to this day it maintains an active backlist of around two thousand titles.
Tuttle Publishing, as you can already tell, isn’t just focussed on publishing manga, but it also publishes various different genres of books, and the books published by Charles Tuttle in 50s, 60s, and 70s, still go very relevant.
In today’s day and age, Tuttle publishes around 150 new titles every year and it focusses on various different genres, including manga.
Company owners – Charles E. Tuttle
Founding year – 1948
Number of employees – Less than 20
Headquarters – Clarendon, Vermont, United States
Famous titles produced – Festival of Shadows, Tokyo Rose – Zero Hour, Soseki Natsume’s I Am A Cat, and many more.
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Conclusion
Well, there you have it. An article discussing some of the best manga publishing companies around the world.
As you can already tell, the companies are not just situated in Japan, but even in America, as well, and there are many more from around the globe, as well.
During the research for this article, it did surprise me a lot to see that there are so many companies that have been around since the early 50s, and some are even more than a century old!
It just goes to show how culturally significant manga literature is in Japan, and it is great to know that so many people around the world are so into the work and their literature.
If you want to read more about various types of manga and their genres, then you can find a number of different articles on our website, discussing about them, as well.
As always, these have been my thoughts on this topic. What about you? Do you agree with my list of the best manga book publishing companies around the world?
Or do you think that I missed out on a few of them? Whatever your thoughts are, do let us know about them in the comments down below!
