On 21st June, the official Twitter account of Kodansha Ltd. released a voice video of the first president, Seiji Noma to celebrated the company’s 112th anniversary this year.

#あらためまして講談社です

今から112年前、#講談社 は創業しました。初代社長の野間清治が30歳の時でした。

「世界第一の雑誌社になってみたい」と熱く語る野間の肉声が見つかりましたので、ご覧ください🎥 pic.twitter.com/rzR17lSIZq

— 講談社 (@KODANSHA_JP) June 21, 2021

According to the video, the 30 years old president Seiji Noma stated:

“Everyday I think about different things especially about this publishing department,that we have expanded into the world. Japanese spirit, Japanese literature and Japanese art, I would like to introduce them to the world. I want to become the world’s number one magazine company. Under this dreamlike aspiration, we all will make serious efforts from this morning.”

The official account of Kodansha also posted a photo of the company building at the time of its founding on the 18th, saying, “It started from a rented house with a rent of 12 yen near the current Sendagi 3-chome, Bunkyo-ku.”

#DoYouKnowKodansha?

Since 1909 Kodansha is a Japanese publication company that has pursued the new, the exciting – the impossible. Look for more updates on Twitter as we share all about Kodansha!

Picture: Kodansha started in a house that cost $0.11 USD to lease monthly. pic.twitter.com/Jxbze3ebcu

— KODANSHA (@KODANSHA_EN) June 18, 2021

The Tokyo-based publisher had a recent brand update after over 100 years. The new identity and logo is themed around a fresh statement of purpose: inspire impossible stories.

Gretel’s work is reminiscent of art gallery or cultural institution branding, featuring an elegant new logo made up of intersecting lines in a square – a nod to the layout of comic book pages.

Seiji Noma founded Kodansha in 1909 as a spin-off of the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai (Greater Japan Oratorical Society) and produced the literary magazine Yūben as its first publication. The name Kodansha (taken from Kōdan Club, a now defunct magazine published by the company) originated in 1911 when the publisher formally merged with the Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai. The company has used its current legal name since 1958.

Source: Oricon News, Kodansha Twitter

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