Industry map/Entertainment, Media & Leisure
Publishing & Bookstores industry map
Who earns the money in Publishing & Bookstores, and who keeps it. When a company spans several industries, only the relevant segment is counted.
FY2025 · 41 companies · ¥846.2B
Industry map
Companies ordered by revenue, connected by ownership (major shareholders). Arrows point from the shareholder to the investee.
- Industry size (revenue)
- ¥846.2B
- Companies
- 41
- Avg. salary(parent only)
- ¥6.1M
- Industry weather
- Sunny
YoY +4.3%
Avg. age 41.1
Operating income +4.0%
Kadokawa[9468]
Publication, IP Creation
- Revenue
- ¥153.6B▲3.3%
- Operating income
- ¥4.05B▼51.6%
Margin 2.6%
Whole company: Revenue ¥282.9B · Net income ¥1.28B
Avg. salary ¥8.7M · 41.6(parent only)
Maruzen CHI Holdings[3159]
Retail Store Chain and Online Store Management + 2 more
- Revenue
- ¥134.7B▲15.5%
- Operating income
- ¥5.44B▲54.3%
Margin 4.0%
Whole company: Revenue ¥185.1B · Net income ¥3.33B
Avg. salary ¥6M · 51.6(parent only)
Media DO[3678]
E-book distribution business + 1 more
- Revenue
- ¥108.5B▲6.5%
- Operating income
- ¥4.29B▲6.5%
Margin 4.0%
Whole company: Revenue ¥108.5B · Net income ¥1.82B
Avg. salary ¥6.1M · 36.2(parent only)
Gakken Holdings[9470]
Education
- Revenue
- ¥95.4B▲3.8%
- Operating income
- ¥4.96B▲20.3%
Margin 5.2%
Whole company: Revenue ¥199.1B · Net income ¥3.58B
Avg. salary ¥9.6M · 44.3(parent only)
Zenrin[9474]
- Revenue
- ¥64.3B▼0.1%
- Operating income
- ¥3.5B▼10.7%
Margin 5.4%
Avg. salary ¥6M · 47.1(parent only)
Square Enix Holdings[9684]
Publication Segment
- Revenue
- ¥29.7B▼3.4%
- Operating income
- ¥9.85B▼10.3%
Margin 33.2%
Whole company: Revenue ¥297.7B · Net income ¥29.6B
Avg. salary ¥13.2M · 48.0(parent only)
halmek holdings[7119]
Halmek business
- Revenue
- ¥27.5B▲3.0%
- Operating income
- ¥1.69B▲30.0%
Margin 6.1%
Whole company: Revenue ¥33.8B · Net income ¥1.05B
Avg. salary ¥8.4M · 46.2(parent only)
Village Vanguard[2769]
- Revenue
- ¥25B▲0.7%
- Operating income
- -¥935M
Margin -3.7%
Avg. salary ¥3.9M · 41.5(parent only)
Akatsuki[3932]
Game,Comic
- Revenue
- ¥22.1B▼1.1%
- Operating income
- ¥7.97B▲92.9%
Margin 36.0%
Whole company: Revenue ¥25.9B · Net income ¥5.65B
Avg. salary ¥9.3M · 37.8(parent only)
Sanyodo Holdings[3058]
- Revenue
- ¥17.2B▲3.9%
- Operating income
- ¥268.5M▲117.2%
Margin 1.6%
Avg. salary ¥4.9M · 48.4(parent only)
Beaglee[3981]
Platform segment + 1 more
- Revenue
- ¥16.7B▼9.4%
- Operating income
- ¥1.37B▼23.4%
Margin 8.2%
Whole company: Revenue ¥16.7B · Net income ¥683.7M
Avg. salary ¥6.2M · 36.2(parent only)
AlphaPolis.[9467]
Publishing segments
- Revenue
- ¥16.1B
- Operating income
- ¥3.58B
Margin 22.2%
Whole company: Revenue ¥16.6B · Net income ¥2.32B
Avg. salary ¥6.7M · 34.8(parent only)
※ Card revenue and operating income cover only the segment in this industry; “Whole company” shows consolidated revenue and net income.
Other companies: TOP Culture · Papyless · Bunkyodo Group Holdings · TO Books · OVERLAP Holdings · Bunkeido · Misumi · Scinex · Creek & River · Fujisan Magazine Service · Starts Publishing · Shobunsha Holdings · SE Holdings and Incubations · Chuokeizai-Sha Holdings · Torico · Japan Craft Holdings · and factory · Amazia · IG Port · Hope · Hotman · Seki · Daiwa · WellcoHoldings · JN Group · Applied · Flier · Forside · note
The weather is derived mechanically from year-over-year totals of revenue and operating income (both up = sunny, both down = rainy).
Industry takeaways
AI summary (figures come from filings)
- KADOKAWA leads with ¥153.6B from publishing and IP, 19% of the listed total.
- Number two, MEDIA DO (¥101.1B), doesn't publish books at all: it passes publishers' e-books on to online stores.
- Profit runs the other way from size. KADOKAWA's operating margin is 2.6%, while Square Enix's publishing arm makes 33.2% and light-novel house OVERLAP 35.5%.
- Bookstores split: Maruzen CHI's store and online arm grew +23.7%, but TOP CULTURE, a TSUTAYA franchisee, fell -8.0% and lost money.
Who earns the money
Area = revenue from businesses in this industry. Color = operating margin.
Who makes a profit
Across = revenue (log scale), up = operating margin, bubble size = operating income.
Ranking and momentum
| Rank | Company (business) | Revenue | Share | Op. margin | CAGR | FCF* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KadokawaPublication, IP Creation | ¥153.6B | 18.2% | 2.6% | — | -¥6.08B |
| 2 | Maruzen CHI HoldingsRetail Store Chain and Online Store Management + 2 more | ¥134.7B | 15.9% | 4.0% | +0.8% | ¥1.36B |
| 3 | Media DOE-book distribution business + 1 more | ¥108.5B | 12.8% | 4.0% | +0.9% | ¥1.91B |
| 4 | Gakken HoldingsEducation | ¥95.4B | 11.3% | 5.2% | +4.9% | ¥4.21B |
| 5 | Zenrin | ¥64.3B | 7.6% | 5.5% | +2.1% | ¥1.84B |
| 6 | Square Enix HoldingsPublication Segment | ¥29.7B | 3.5% | 33.2% | +0.7% | ¥44.2B |
| 7 | halmek holdingsHalmek business | ¥27.5B | 3.3% | 6.2% | +10.1% | ¥1.34B |
| 8 | Village Vanguard | ¥25B | 2.9% | -3.8% | -3.1% | ¥331M |
| 9 | AkatsukiGame,Comic | ¥22.1B | 2.6% | 36.0% | — | ¥2.1B |
| 10▲1 | Sanyodo Holdings | ¥17.2B | 2.0% | 1.6% | -2.2% | -¥257.7M |
| 11▼1 | BeagleePlatform segment + 1 more | ¥16.7B | 2.0% | 8.2% | -2.7% | ¥1.27B |
| 12new | AlphaPolis.Publishing segments | ¥16.1B | 1.9% | 22.2% | — | ¥1.88B |
| 13▼1 | TOP CultureTSUTAYA bookstore business | ¥15.2B | 1.8% | -3.9% | -12.4% | ¥776.8M |
| 14▼1 | PapylessE-book Business Segment + 1 more | ¥14.7B | 1.7% | 3.3% | — | ¥418M |
| 15▼1 | Bunkyodo Group Holdings | ¥14.5B | 1.7% | -0.6% | -6.3% | -¥58.3M |
| 16new | TO Books | ¥9.43B | 1.1% | 12.2% | — | ¥114.1M |
| 17▼1 | OVERLAP Holdings | ¥8.54B | 1.0% | 35.4% | +4.7% | — |
| 18▼3 | BunkeidoPublication | ¥8.39B | 1.0% | 16.8% | -2.9% | ¥58.7M |
| 19▼2 | MisumiLifestyle | ¥7.61B | 0.9% | 2.4% | -0.8% | ¥366M |
| 20▼2 | ScinexInformation media business | ¥6.69B | 0.8% | 15.4% | — | ¥155.4M |
| 21▲15 | Creek & RiverCRES field | ¥6.23B | 0.7% | 10.3% | — | ¥1.48B |
| 22▼3 | Fujisan Magazine ServiceMagazine sales support business | ¥5.65B | 0.7% | 5.2% | — | ¥71.8M |
| 23▼3 | Starts Publishingpublication | ¥4.8B | 0.6% | 34.3% | +10.0% | ¥729.4M |
| 24▼3 | Shobunsha HoldingsMedia Business | ¥4.66B | 0.6% | 5.8% | +12.0% | ¥367.1M |
| 25▼3 | SE Holdings and IncubationsPublishing | ¥4.03B | 0.5% | 13.0% | -2.6% | ¥337M |
| 26▼1 | Chuokeizai-Sha Holdings | ¥3.26B | 0.4% | 7.2% | +0.8% | ¥359.1M |
| 27new | ToricoManga | ¥3.19B | 0.4% | -2.1% | — | ¥39.4M |
| 28▼4 | Japan Craft HoldingsPublishing Education Business | ¥3.15B | 0.4% | 1.5% | — | -¥682.2M |
| 29▼3 | and factoryAPP Business | ¥3.06B | 0.4% | 2.0% | — | -¥488.8M |
| 30▼7 | AmaziaEntertainment | ¥2.79B | 0.3% | 0.2% | — | -¥452.7M |
| 31▼4 | IG PortPublishing business | ¥2.22B | 0.3% | 15.7% | +0.7% | -¥2.59B |
| 32▼2 | HopeJititaiworks | ¥1.54B | 0.2% | 29.0% | +62.1% | ¥169.3M |
| 33▼5 | HotmanTSUTAYA | ¥1.36B | 0.2% | -2.2% | -11.4% | ¥643.4M |
| 34▼5 | SekiPublishing and advertisement agency related | ¥1.31B | 0.2% | 3.4% | +4.1% | ¥7.6M |
| 35▼3 | DaiwaPublishing industry | ¥764.6M | 0.1% | 2.2% | -0.2% | ¥873.8M |
| 36▼5 | WellcoHoldingsEducation business | ¥684M | 0.1% | -17.3% | — | -¥842M |
| 37▼3 | JN GroupMetaverse digital contents business | ¥583.2M | 0.1% | -2.6% | — | -¥48.7M |
| 38▼5 | AppliedPublishing and Advertising Business | ¥362M | 0.0% | 10.8% | +1.7% | ¥2.16B |
| 39▼4 | FlierConsumer business | ¥354.6M | 0.0% | 35.0% | — | ¥25.8M |
| 40new | ForsideMaster rights business + 1 more | ¥236.6M | 0.0% | -7.5% | — | ¥612.7M |
| 41▼4 | noteIP and Content Creation | ¥61.6M | 0.0% | -22.6% | — | — |
* FCF is company-wide (not disclosed by segment). CAGR covers the available years, up to five.
How they make money differently
Where each company's ¥100 of sales goes, and how much it keeps (company-wide).
- Cost of sales
- SG&A
- Operating profit
- OVERLAP Holdings471835
- Akatsuki462529
- AlphaPolis.255421
- Starts Publishing493021
- Square Enix Holdings473518
- SE Holdings and Incubations513514
- TO Books315712
- Beaglee66268
- Creek & River64288
- Shobunsha Holdings60337
- Bunkeido5737
- Zenrin5936
- halmek holdings4451
- Gakken Holdings7224
- Kadokawa6631
- Maruzen CHI Holdings7423
- Fujisan Magazine Service7324
- Media DO917
- Sanyodo Holdings6731
- Papyless5445
- Misumi7821
- Scinex6633
- Bunkyodo Group Holdings7229loss ¥1
- TOP Culture6537loss ¥2
- Village Vanguard6341loss ¥4
Showing the 25 largest companies by revenue.
Ownership links
From the major-shareholder section of annual securities reports.
- Media DOIn industry
- SubsidiaryFlier56.3%
- 大日本印刷株式会社Outside
- SubsidiaryMaruzen CHI Holdings54.9%
- StakeBunkyodo Group Holdings7.6%
- スターツコーポレーション株式会社Outside
- AffiliateStarts Publishing48.6%
- 株式会社エムティーアイOutside
- AffiliateShobunsha Holdings29.9%
- 株式会社セプテーニ・ホールディングスOutside
- Affiliateand factory21.3%
- 株式会社チェンジホールディングスOutside
- StakeHope18.8%
- 株式会社イエローハットOutside
- StakeHotman15.6%
- ENEOSホールディングス㈱Outside
- StakeMisumi13.7%
- ソニーグループ株式会社Outside
- セガサミーホールディングス株式会社Outside
- StakePapyless10.4%
- 株式会社ABEJAOutside
- StakeFujisan Magazine Service9.3%
- トヨタ自動車株式会社Outside
- StakeZenrin8.0%
- 株式会社コーエーテクモホールディングスOutside
- StakeAkatsuki7.8%
- NTT株式会社Outside
- StakeZenrin7.8%
- 株式会社フィスコOutside
- StakeJN Group6.3%
- 日本証券金融㈱Outside
- StakeSE Holdings and Incubations5.4%
- StakeApplied3.1%
- 倉敷紡績株式会社Outside
- StakeDaiwa5.2%
- 株式会社サンリオOutside
- StakeIG Port5.0%
- StakeBunkeido4.9%
- 株式会社テイツーOutside
- StakeTorico4.5%
- 株式会社愛媛銀行Outside
- StakeSeki4.0%
- ㈱フジシールインターナショナルOutside
- StakeSeki3.6%
- TOYO TIRE㈱Outside
- StakeMisumi3.2%
- 株式会社SHIFTOutside
- StakeMedia DO3.1%
The company on each card is a major shareholder of the companies listed under it (latest 'major shareholders' disclosure). 50%+ is labelled subsidiary and 20%+ affiliate, based on ownership alone. Stakes under 3% are omitted. Showing up to 24 shareholder cards.
Compare the leaders side by side
All companies in Publishing & Bookstores (by revenue)
All 41 companies in this industry, ranked by revenue in each company's latest fiscal year. For companies that belong through one business segment, the figure is that segment's revenue.
- Kadokawa¥153.6B · 2.6%
- Maruzen CHI Holdings¥134.7B · 4.0%
- Media DO¥108.5B · 4.0%
- Gakken Holdings¥95.4B · 5.2%
- Zenrin¥64.3B · 5.5%
- Square Enix Holdings¥29.7B · 33.2%
- halmek holdings¥27.5B · 6.2%
- Village Vanguard¥23.4B · 3.9%
- Akatsuki¥22.1B · 36.0%
- Sanyodo Holdings¥17.2B · 1.6%
- Beaglee¥16.7B · 8.2%
- AlphaPolis.¥16.1B · 22.2%
- TOP Culture¥15.2B · -3.9%
- Papyless¥14.7B · 5.2%
- Bunkyodo Group Holdings¥14.5B · -0.6%
- TO Books¥11.8B · 16.8%
- OVERLAP Holdings¥8.54B · 35.4%
- Bunkeido¥8.39B · 16.8%
- Misumi¥7.61B · 2.4%
- Scinex¥6.69B · 15.4%
- Creek & River¥6.23B · 10.3%
- Fujisan Magazine Service¥5.65B · 5.2%
- Starts Publishing¥4.8B · 34.3%
- Shobunsha Holdings¥4.66B · 5.8%
- SE Holdings and Incubations¥4.03B · 13.0%
- Chuokeizai-Sha Holdings¥3.26B · 7.2%
- Torico¥3.19B · -2.1%
- and factory¥3.06B · 2.0%
- Japan Craft Holdings¥3.06B · 2.7%
- Amazia¥2.79B · 0.2%
- IG Port¥2.31B · 11.1%
- Hope¥1.54B · 29.0%
- Hotman¥1.36B · -2.2%
- Seki¥1.31B · 3.4%
- Daiwa¥764.6M · 2.2%
- WellcoHoldings¥684M · -17.3%
- JN Group¥583.2M · -2.6%
- Applied¥362M · 10.8%
- Flier¥354.6M · 35.0%
- Forside¥236.6M · -7.5%
- note¥61.6M · -22.6%
Revenue · Op. margin
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