Maruzen
| Maruzen ( 丸 善 株式会社 ) | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Kabushiki kaisha ( joint stock company ) |
| ISIN | JP3875610002 |
| founding | January 1, 1869 |
| Seat | 4-13-14, Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa- ku , Tokyo 140-0002 |
| management | Takehiko Ogi (President) |
| Number of employees | 851 (as of January 31, 2010) + 2,913 temporary workers |
| sales | 969 million yen consolidated (2009 Q1) |
| Branch | Book trade |
| Website | www.maruzen.co.jp |
Maruzen ( Japanese 丸 善 株式会社 , Kabushiki kaisha Maruzen , English Maruzen Company, Limited), listed in the Nikkei 225 , is a bookselling group and chain in Japan. Maruzen has been importing foreign language books and culture to Japan since the end of the 19th century.
Company history
With the opening of the country through the Treaty of Kanagawa (1854), Japan came under increasing pressure from the onslaught of Western achievements. Enlightenment ( 啓蒙 ) was therefore the motto of the hour. The pedagogue Fukuzawa Yukichi (1834-1901) was one of the first to travel to Europe and described the education and library system. He suggested his student Hayashi Yūteki ( 早 矢 仕 有的 ) (1837-1901) to deal with the import of Western goods. Although Hayashi was a doctor, he founded a business in Yokohama in 1869 under the name Maruya ( 丸 屋 ) that imported books, among other things. Just one year later he opened another store in Nihombashi , Tokyo.
In 1878, Hayashi changes the name of his business to Maruzen and the corporate form to one of the first kabushiki-gaisha (stock corporation) in Japan. In 1885 a translation of the lexicon Information for the people appeared under the title Hyakka Zenshō. The lexicon could already be ordered at a subscription price in 1883; a very unusual distribution method at the time. In addition, Hayashi imported German classics right from the start, which from 1900 also included Meyer's Encyclopedia and the Brockhaus Lexicon.
The foundation stone for the current headquarters, the first reinforced concrete building in Japan, was laid in 1952. Hayashi was very active throughout his life, both as an editor of non-fiction books and as a promoter of literature. In 1897 he founded the literary magazine Licht der Wissenschaft ( 學 鐙 ), which was published from 1901 by Uchida Roan .
In 1956, Maruzen opened a branch in New York for importing foreign language and exporting Japanese books. This branch is now Maruzen International Co., Ltd. The first European branch is established in London in 1984. It is also the center for information processing and new media. In the following years Maruzen developed CALIS (Computer Assisted Library Information System). Maruzen supports libraries in a variety of ways to this day. In the early 1990s, Maruzen helped the Parliamentary Library secure 110,000 works from the Meji period on microfilm.
In 1992, Maruzen opened a multimedia center in the research city for culture and science, Kansai . The American office is relocated from New York to New Jersey to expand sales. Today, Maruzen has offices all over Japan.
Presence in Japan
Maruzen currently has 39 stores, 29 sales offices and 70 sales points at universities and schools, as well as 4 branches outside of Japan.
Starting in October 2010, Maruzen is planning a Manga e-platform with 500,000 e-book titles with the Chinese IT company Peking University Founder Group.
literature
- Ulrich Wattenberg: Japanese Books, Book Lovers and Libraries . (PDF; 1.8 MB) A journey through history. Kleine Reihe 24, pp. 22-25
Web links
- Website (English)
- Official Website (Japanese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information from Maruzen
- ↑ ISIN JP3875610002
- ^ Ulrich Wattenberg: Japanese books, book lovers and libraries . (PDF; 1.8 MB)
- ↑ Company history
- ↑ Address of the American and British branches ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Business information on Maruzen
- ↑ Der Börsianer ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
