Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group,[5] one of the largest publishing groups in Japan. Shogakukan is headquartered in the Shogakukan Building in Hitotsubashi, part of Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, near the Jimbocho book district. The corporation also has the other two companies located in the same ward.
In March 2010 it was announced that Shogakukan would partner with the American comics publisher Fantagraphics to issue a line of manga to be edited by Rachel Thorn.[8]
In Europe
In Europe, manga from Shōgakukan and Shūeisha are published by local publishers such as Pika Édition, Ki-oon, Kana and Kazé for the French market, and Kazé, Carlsen, Egmont and Tokyopop for the German market. Shogakukan, Shueisha and ShoPro have established a joint venture named Viz Media Europe.[9] Viz Media Europe bought in 2009 the French Kazé Group whose activities are mainly publishing manga and home video for the French and German market.[10]
Shogakukan has awards for amateur manga artists who want to become professional. It allows people to either send in their manga by mail or bring it in to an editor.[citation needed]
On February 15, 2018, CoroCoro Comic ( "Gekkan Corocoro Comic"), a children's magazine published by Shogakukan, had in its March issue a cartoon making fun of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. The comic showed a mischievous boy doodling juvenile things on pictures of famous people, such as a dog's face on a picture of Albert Einstein.[12] Genghis Khan was depicted with a crude rendering of male genitalia on his forehead.[13][14] After some backlash, Shogakukan initially offered an apology addressed to the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo on February 23, but that failed to mollify Mongolian expats in Japan, who regard Genghis Khan as a national hero.[13]
On February 26, Mongolians and citizens of China's Inner Mongoliaautonomous region resident in Japan sent a formal letter of protest to Shogakukan, while some 90 demonstrators protested in front of company headquarters.[13] Major bookselling chains Kinokuniya, Miraiya and Kumazawa pulled the publication off shelves after the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo filed an official complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[12] In March 2018, Shogakukan issued another public apology, announced a national recall of the magazine and offered a refund to magazine patrons.[15] CoroCoro Comic's website also published an apology by Asumi Yoshino, author of the serialized manga Yarisugi!!! Itazura-kun which contained the controversial image.[16]
Shogaku Ninensei (Second Grade) (discontinued in 2016)
Shogaku Sannensei (Third Grade) (discontinued in 2012)
Shogaku Yonnensei (Fourth Grade) (discontinued in 2012)
Shogaku Gonensei (Fifth Grade) (discontinued in 2010)
Shogaku Rokunensei (Sixth Grade) (discontinued in 2010)
Shogaku Hachinensei (Eighth Grade) (since 2017, replacing Second to Sixth Grade magazines)
News magazines
Weekly Post (週刊ポスト)
SAPIO (discontinued in 2019)
Josei Seven (女性セブン)
Anime
Shogakukan produces (or makes part of the production of) anime based on their mangas, mostly through their subsidiary Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.
Imprints
Tentomushi Comics
Tentōmusi Comics (Japanese: てんとう虫コミックス【てんとうむしコミックス】, Hepburn: Tentōmushi Komikkusu), abbreviated TC, is the
imprint used for tankōbon editions of manga series serialized in Monthly CoroCoro Comic and
Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic magazines.[18]
