KADOKAWA ANNUAL REPORT 2004

The animation and comics made in Japan are expanding the market to Asian countries and further to Europe and USA, and the number of fans is also increasing all over the world. A good example is the “NEWTYPE USA”, which is the US edition of the animation information magazine “NEWTYPE”, newly published in October 2002. The number of issue at the time of start-up was 50,000 but the magazine increased its issues due to the soaring interest of US readers in Japanese animation and the number of issue reached 100,000 currently. We, therefore, plan to embark into Europe soon, where so many fanatic animation fans exist. In addition, popular works borne in the comic magazines are transformed into various products and are supporting the character business as the core merchandise articles, in such way that the stories are made into the TV animation programs and the theater animation pictures and, further made into the video game software and the game cards, and the characters of such comic works are made into original goods. Kadokawa Group is doing business in this area of great promise by the independent activities of Animation & Comics Division and “Fujimi” Editorial Department of Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. and Media Works Inc. And ENTERBRAIN, Inc. newly participated in this line too. In other words, by the participation of ENTERBRAIN, Kadokawa Group formed the corporate group, which no other can imitate, in the field of video games and animation businesses where Japan is leading the world market.
Furthermore, in addition to the comics, the market of “Light Novels”, for which Kadokawa Shoten is acting as the forerunner in the publication industry, is expanding and is quite active. This category of literary works is the ideal field to find out talented new novel writers and the works are not only made into comic stories but also are becoming a great source of the contents for the character business. In this genre of the market, four group companies are competing each other. Animation & Comics Division of Kadokawa Shoten is publishing “Sneakers Bunko”, “Ruby Bunko” and “Beans Bunko”, “Fujimi” Editorial Department of Kadokawa Shoten is publishing “Mystery Bunko” and “Fantasia Bunko”, Media Works is publishing “Dengeki Bunko” and ENTERBRAIN is publishing “Famitsu Bunko”, respectively. And, for the purpose of unearthing talented new writers, each company is presenting the literary award and soliciting the application widely to the readers.
As regards the events, the group participated in the biggest character & hobby festival in Japan, “Charahobi 2004” in the summer of 2004. And in October, “Tokyo International Entertainment Market – Comics, Animation, Game & Film Fair” was held in conjunction with “The 17th Tokyo International Film Festival”, which will be supported by Kadokawa Group as a whole.