about TOHAN

Tohan has supported the maintenance and development of the Japanese publishing industry as a leading company in the distribution of publications that connects nationwide bookstores and publishers since our establishment in 1949.

Sales companies (dealers) connect a large number of publishers and retail stores (e.g. bookstores and convenience stores) in the publishing industry in Japan. Approximately 78,000 new books and 3,300 periodicals are released onto the market every year. Combined with the already published stock, a huge volume of products are in circulation. In this high-mix low-volume market, Tohan is continually striving to streamline distribution and build an efficient sales system.

Moreover, the Tohan Group sensitively perceives the intellectual curiosity of people to work toward achieving customer satisfaction by expanding our areas of business with the distribution of publications at the core. For example, in addition to books, magazines and comics, we have expanded to handle and sell a wide variety of products such as CDs, DVDs, stationery and miscellaneous goods.

Corporate Philosophy

"With high quality service and the network of information and distribution, we support the people's intellectual activities and contribute to the creation of a rich community."

Overseas Business Development

Leveraging the expertise we have acquired in Japan, we are also actively expanding our business in overseas markets, such as the export of Japanese books, the sale of Western books to Japanese bookstores and involvement in the copyright business.

Export of Japanese Books and Magazines

We mainly export and sale Japanese books, magazines, comics, stationary and miscellaneous goods to overseas bookstores, distributors and overseas branches of Japanese bookstores. Japanese publications possess the highest level of product value in the world, so they are purchased as book collections by university libraries and research facilities.

Overseas Events Operations

We support the overseas business development of Japanese content and the internationalization of Japanese companies with a track record over many years in product export, copyright brokerage and various event support offices. In regards to various events and book fairs, including being a main partner (corporate support office) of "JAPAN EXPO PARIS" – a classic example of "COOL JAPAN," we are responsible for the Japanese executive offices at the "Taiwan International Book Exhibition" and the "Beijing International Book Exhibition" held every year.

Sale of Imported Books and Magazines

We import foreign books and magazines from the U.S., the U.K., China, South Korea and other countries. We then sell these publications to bookstores in Japan. In particular, we import a wide lineup of Chinese and Korean books to meet the various needs of regional/educational institutions and language learners.

Copyright Agency Services

We deal with Japanese and overseas publishers by taking advantage of our more than 20 years of experience as a copyright agent. There is high demand for translations of Japanese books around the world, so we broker more than 1,000 copyright agreements every year. We are also actively involved in brokering electronic distribution-related copyrights, introducing foreign works to Japanese publishers and dealing with character commercialization agreements.

Overseas Publishing Affiliates

TAIWAN TOHAN CO., LTD.
Taiwan Tohan was established as Taiwan's first Japanese publisher in 1990. This company has built a strong position in the publishing industry in the country with the translation and publication of Japanese books, comics and light novels, as well as the issue of the original edition street fashion magazine "BANG!" and the information magazine "HERE!"
China Publishing Tohan Co., Ltd.
China Publishing Tohan was established as a joint venture with a leading Chinese publishing group in 2010. This company is actively expanding into the business of translating and publishing Chinese publications in Japan.

Corporate Data