In the course of my Internet research about publishing costs in Japan, I collected three white papers and a Robert Whiting interview (all were posted for download on non-gated websites). Also recommended is mangaka Shuho Sato's tell-all retrospective about his own profession.

"An Introduction to Publishing in Japan" by the Japan Book Publishers Association: JBPA.pdf

"The Field of Japanese Publishing" by Brian Moeran: BrianMoeran.pdf

"The Japanese Way! Relationships between Authors and Publishers in the Context of Developing Works into Diverse Forms" by Tetsuro Daiki: TetsuroDaiki.pdf

"You've Gotta Have Wa If You Want to Get Published" by Robert Whiting: RobertWhiting.pdf

Manga Poverty by Shuho Sato (translated by Dan Luffey): ebook

The following are a live-action drama and three anime. Antiquarian Bookshop may be the coziest cozy mystery series ever. In the process, you'll learn a good deal about the used book trade in Japan. Shirobako is an "inside baseball" account about how an anime series is made.

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun and Bakuman feature teenagers who want to be professional mangaka when they grow up, a subject that constitutes its own genre. Bakuman in particular pays close attention to the technical details of the profession. It debuted on NHK Educational TV.

The Sakuga blog provides a good explanation of the "production committee."

Related posts

The proof is in the printing
The actual value of the written word

Labels: anime, business, japan, japanese tv, publishing, thinking about writing, whiting